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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


BEQUEST 

OF 

ANITA  D.  S.  BLAKE 


.  I 


Ihe 

Building  of  a  Pi<fhire 


By 
W.  L.  Judson 

Dean  of  the  College  of  Fine  Arts 
Univerfity  of  SoutJiern  California 


I 


Cob  Attgplro  an&  i^n  yrattriarn 

SANDERSON  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1902 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


(hL^ 


LOAN  STACK 
GTFT 


Apology 

"Of  the  making  of  books  there  is  no  end",  and  yet 
there  seemed  to  be  need  of  a  companionable  little 
book  about  the  making  of  pictures. 

The  cry  for  knowledge  how  to  judge  pictures, 
how  to  enjoy  them,  how  to  make  them  is  a  cease- 
less hum  in  these  strenuous  days  of  high  endeavor 
and  great  ideals. 

The  words  set  down  here  in  short  sentences 
are  the  very  phrases  used  again  and  again  in  the 
actual  practice  of  teaching;  the  very  things  the 
practical  student  and  amateur  wants  to  know. 

The  principles  upon  which  pictures  are  made 
are  the  principles  by  which  they  must  be  judged, 
so  those  who  love  art  and  those  who  practice  it 
may  equally  find  pleasure  and  profit  in  knowing 
how  some  successful  artists  have  worked. 

Keep  the  book  handy  for  reference  and  read  a 
little  now  and  then. 

The  Author 


18.5 


I. 

The  Vital  Qualities 

5 

II. 

The  lost  Octaves     . 

17 

III. 

The  Key  Note 

29 

IV. 

Technique 

43 

V. 

Composition 

.        65 

VI. 

The  Sketch 

73 

VII. 

The  Painter 

.         87 

The  Building  of  a 
Picture 


THE  VITAL  QUALITIES 


1 1  AT  is  it  all  about — this  confounding 
and  ceaseless  discussion  of  art  which 
loads  to  nowhere?  There  is  Madame 
Jones  who  finds  only  food  for  melan- 
choly in  the  pictures  which  fill  the 
soul  of  Professor  Brown  with  inef- 
fable peace.  Is  there  anything  wrong  with  her  in- 
tellectual   discernment? 

And  there  is  Doctor  Smith  (the  LL.  D.),  an  ac- 
knowledged authority  on  art.  Why  does  he  turn  up 
his  metaphorical  nose  in  disdain  at  the  things  which 
feed  the  higher  life  of  Madame  Jones?  Is  the  taste 
for  art  like  that  for  tobacco — a  thing  to  be  acquired 
by  practice  only?  Are  there  no  foundation  princi- 
ples, no  common  ground  on  which  all  the  elect  may 
stand  for  a  common  enjoyment?  Need  they  vex 
their  righteous  souls  over  the  weaknesses  of  their 
neighbors  for  this,  that,  or  the  other  special  brand 
or  flavor? 


Art  criticism 


The  building  of  a  picture 

Bless  you,  there  is  no  real  quarrel.  These  people 
love  one  another.  The  Browns,  Smiths  and  Joneses 
are  all  highly  gifted  and  cultured  people,  especially 
in  literature  and  art.  These  crisp  and  pungent  opin- 
ions of  theirs  are  the  visible  evidences  of  the  fact. 


A  tribute 
to  the  critics 


If  you  will  always  remember,  my  children,  that  art 
criticism  should  properly  be  accepted  as  a  just  trib- 
ute to  the  great  learning  of  the  critic  it  will  add 
much  to  your  peace  of  mind. 


Because  Professor  Brown  is  a  successful  academi- 
cian, Madame  Jones  an  impressionist  of  the  broad 
and  vivid  branch  of  that  broad  and  vivid  school 
and  Doctor  Smith  has  studied  the  old  masters  in 
Madrid  and  Florence,  is  it  not  necessary  that  each 
should  shout  something  or  other  to  draw  attention 
to  the  fact? 

Secretly  they  envy  and  admire  each  other  for  their 
attainments  and  opinions. 


The  days 
of  peace 


This  discussion  is  as  old  as  the  emancipation  of 
the  painter's  art. 

Time  was  when  the  Egyptian  artist  painted  by 
formula  at  the  direction  of  an  over-fed  priesthood, 
the  basest  and  least  progressive  era  of  painting 
with  which  we  are  acquainted.  In  a  later  time 
painting,  like  everything  else,  fell  under  the  sacer- 
dotal yoke  again.  It  became  a  soulless  convention 
and  relapsed  into  absolute  imbecility. 

In  those  days  there  was  peace  in  the  schools. 
6 


The  vital  qualities 

When  the  cave  man  of  Neanderthal  scratched  his 
spirited  sketch  of  the  Aurochs  on  a  flat  bone  he 
doubtless  took  time  to  express  his  opinion  of  the 
lake  dweller  who  did  his  sketching  on  a  board  with 
a  hot  pebble. 

If  you  ask  Doctor  Smith  he  will  tell  you,  warmly, 
that  in  the  hands  of  Titian  and  Velasquez  the  art  of 
painting  reached  its  ultimate  perfection,  beyond 
which  it  is  impossible  to  go. 

Get  your  information  from  Madame  Jones  and 
you  will  learn  that  the  ancients  of  the  sixteenth 
century  were  a  lot  of  clever  children  who  painted 
quite  well,  considering  that  they  lived  three  hun- 
dred years  ago,  but  that  the  moderns  are  really  the 
people — at  least  those  of  the  impressionist  school 
are. 

Professor  Brown  tells  us  definitely  that  the  mod- 
ern academic  training  gives  the  youth  of  today  the 
advantage  of  half  a  lifetime,  enabling  him  to  begin 
where  the  old  masters  left  off — that  there  are  in  fact 
hundreds  of  painters  doing  better  technical  work  to- 
day than  any  painter  of  any  previous  century. 

Doubtless   they   all   are   quite    right.     The   world 
moves  on  and  if  the  principles  of  art  chanefe  not.      The  point 
at  least  our  view   point   does.     The  moderns  have  °'  ^^^^ 

their  own  problems — problems  which  may  or  may 
not  have  concerned  the  old  masters  but  which  thous- 
ands of  the  painters  of  our  day  are  strenuously  and 
passionately  working  to  solve. 


The  building  of  a  picture 

It  may  be  and  probably  is  true  that  there  is  no 
vital  principle  impelling  the  artists  of  today  which 
cannot  find  illustration  in  the  work  of  some  old 
master.  Yet  we  concern  ourselves  deeply  in  this 
penultimate  year  of  the  greatest  century  of  time 
over  qualities  which  worried  our  ancestors  little  or 
not  at  all. 


Modern 

problems 


General 

principles 


There  are  problems  of  light  and  color,  modeling 
and  texture,  movement  and  atmosphere  which,  with 
all  reverence  for  the  great  ones  of  the  past,  we  re- 
gard in  an  essentially  modern  way. 

While  the  schools  differ  radically  on  many  ques- 
tions which  seem  important  enough  to  quarrel  about, 
there  are  yet  a  number  of  qualities  upon  which  all 
schools  agree,  though  with  differing  degrees  of  em- 
phasis. These  may  be  considered  as  the  vital  quali- 
ties of  painting. 

There  are  four  groups  of  these  qualities  which 
may  be  classified  as  composition,  color,  form  and 
handling,  with  many  minor  subdivisions. 


As  composition  we  group  together  chiaroscuro  or 
light  and  shade  values,  mass,  breadth,  contrast,  rehef 
and  opposition. 

Color  includes  the  group  of  essential  qualities 
known  as  tone,  tint,  harmony,  vibration,  atmosphere, 
envelope,  luminosity,  color  values  and  all  those 
things  which  have  to  do  with  the  action  of  light  on 
transparent  media  and  solid  surfaces. 
8 


The  vital  qualities 


As  form  we  classify  all  the  qualities  which  relate 
to  drawing,  as,  line,  movement,  proportion,  mass, 
grace,  perspective. 

On  handling  or  technique  the  vitality  of  all  the 
other  qualities  depends :  touch,  texture  and  finish 
are  its  immediate  distinctions.  The  word  covers  all 
that  relates  to  the  manipulation  of  tools  and  ma- 
terials and  the  various  processes  by  which  effects 
are  obtained. 

"The  art  which  conceals  itself  is  the  best  art" — 
once  a  famous  doema — is  now  most  distinguished  in 
its  general  disregard. 

Much  modern  work  seems  indeed  to  have  been 
produced  solely  to  display  the  clever  manipulation 
of  its  author.  The  bravura  or  brush  work  is  a  sure 
passport  to  recognition  with  some  schools. 

Of  a  good  picture  we  may  say  then,  that  it  has      Vital 
luminosity,  perhaps  brilliancy.     It  has  color,  mean-  qualities 

ing  that  it  is  consistent  in  tone  and  that  all  its  parts 
sing  together  in  perfect  harmony  whether  the  gen- 
eral effect  be  somber,  grey  or  dazzling  with  pris- 
matic tints. 

It  has  atmosphere  whether  the  subject  be  indoors 
or  out,  whether  its  objects  are  represented  as  a 
yard  or  a  mile  away,  it  will  have  that  envelope  of 


The  building  of  a  picture 

visible  air  which  in  nature  is  always  felt  but  rarely 
consciously  perceived  except  by  the  trained  eye. 

It  has  drawing.  Its  lines  and  masses  are  inti- 
mately true  to  nature  and  its  parts  in  right  rela- 
tion to  each  other. 

It  has  technique.  Its  handling  is  of  such  firm  and 
unhesitating  stroke,  its  mingling  of  color  so  delicate 
that  the  sure  and  practiced  hand  is  evident.  The 
paint  is  left  glossy  or  dull,  rough  or  smooth,  as  the 
various    surfaces    require. 

The  combination  of  these  qualities  may  also  give 
it  beauty,  brilliancy,  power,  distinction,  repose,  mys- 
tery, suggestiveness,  and  so  on. 

Beyond  these  there  is  a  certain  spiritual  quality 
which  to  most  cultured  minds  is  the  very  raison 
d'etre  of  art,  but  which  cannot  be  included  in  this 
list  because  it  is  held  to  be  unessential  by  some 
painters  who  otherwise  merit  our  respect. 

"The  lust  of  the  eye"  is  one  of  the  strongest  yearn- 
ings of  human  nature.  It  is  a  desire  which  increases 
with  culture  and  its  gratification  is  one  of  the  pur- 
est delights  of  life.  To  please  the  eye  is  not  an 
ignoble  thing.  The  appeal  to  the  sense  of  beauty 
in  form  and  color  is  well  worthy  of  the  best  efforts 
even  of  a  great  artist. 


The  vital  qualities 


"All  good  art  is  praise." — Ruskin. 

The  painter's  brush  is  one  of  the  most  potent 
teachers  in  the  world.  In  the  hands  of  a  Verestcha- 
gin  its  vibrant  tones  can  do  more  for  the  cause  of 
peace  than  can  all  the  oratory  of  a  generation. 


The  brush 
a  mighty 
teacher 


The  brush  of  a  Fra  Angelico  can  fill  the  minds 
of  men  with  reverence ;  can  touch  their  hearts  with 
a  deep  yearning  for  purity  and  the  things  that  make 
for  righteousness.  So  uncounted  millions  of  men 
and  women  are  made  happier;  their  hearts  are 
moved  with  sympathy  for  the  poor  and  unfortunate; 
they  are  stirred  with  reverence  or  uplifted  with 
hope.  They  arc  prompted  to  do  justly,  to  love 
mercy,  to  defend  the  weak,  to  hasten  the  better  day 
for  which  all  men  look,  and  this  because  so  many 
of  the  painters  of  our  own  day  are  faithful  to  their 
mission. 


The  solemnity  of  night.  The  sweet  glamour  of 
the  mystery  of  twilight.  The  majesty  of  mountains. 
The  joy  of  sunlit  skies.  The  passion,  the  pathos, 
the  sadness,  the  bliss  of  painted  human  life.  These 
are  the  spiritual  qualities  of  art. 


The  spiritual 

qualities 


The  working  out  of  all  these  qualities  and  their 
underlying  principles  presents  to  the  painter  many 
and  difficult  problems.  Of  the  thousands  of  artists 
who. are  conscientiously  striving  for  their  solution 
some  one  is  discovering  something  every  day  which 


The  building  of  a  picture 


The  needful 
sacrifice 


will  help  more  or  less  towards  that  end.  Hence 
these  studio  talks.  They  are  the  result  of  much 
study  and  many  experiments  in  painting  and  teach- 
ing. 

The  only  way  to  enjoy  art  is  to  approach  it  in  a 
spirit  of  tolerance.  Whatever  has  impressed  other 
mature  minds  to  their  delight  or  profit  is  entitled 
at  least  to  our  respectful  consideration,  though  it 
may  ignore  or  subvert  all  our  cherished  doctrines. 
We  may  entertain  angels  unawares. 

A  picture  may  contain  all  the  vital  qualities  here 
enumerated,  but  a  canvas  is  by  no  means  to  be  re- 
jected because  of  the  absence  even  of  several  of 
them.  The  carping  critic  comes  to  a  picture  in  a 
fault-finding  spirit  and  it  will  be  a  wonderful  picture 
indeed  if  he  cannot  find  it. 

The  true  connoisseur  approaches  the  picture  with 
the  intention  of  enjoying  it,  and  it  will  be  a  very 
bad  picture  indeed  if  he  is  entirely  disappointed. 

"The  greatest  picture  is  that  which  conveys  to  the 
mind  of  the  spectator  the  greatest  number  of  the 
greatest  ideas." — Ruskin. 

From  a  technical  standpoint  the  greatest  picture 
is  that  which  contains  the  greatest  number  of  these 
vital  qualities. 

One  painter  may  emphasize  a  certain  set  of  quali- 


The  vital  qualities 


ties  to  the  neglect  of  others,  as  for  instance  when 
one  sacrifices  truth  of  light  and  form  for  the  sake 
of  a  fine  color  scheme.  Another  may  sacrifice  truth 
of  any  kind  in  order  to  force  a  certain  sentiment. 
Where  there  are  so  many  right  ways  it  is  unpardon- 
able egotism  to  insist  on  one's  own  view-point  as 
the  very  center  of  truth. 

The  difference  between  a  sketch  and  a  picture 
lies  primarily  in  the  simpler  aim  of  the  sketch. 

A  sketch  may  be  a  record  of  a  single  note  of  color, 
a  memorandum  of  composition,  a  pose,  a  gesture, 
an  outline  of  any  picturesque  idea  whatever.  It 
states  one  fact  concisely.  Its  qualities  arc  few.  A 
picture  on  the  other  hand  aims  at  fullness  and  fin- 
ish, an  adding  of  truths,  relating  not  only  the  cen- 
tral fact,  but  commenting  and  enlarging  upon  it, 
giving  its  relation  to  many  other  facts.  An  artist 
frequently  makes  many  sketches  in  preparation  for 
a  single  picture. 

Whatever  oddities  of  style  or  method  a  man  or  a 
school  may  develop,  careful  inquiry  will  reveal  the 
fact  of  a  serious  purpose  in  it.  The  oddity  indicates 
a  bias  towards  a  certain  phase  of  feeling  which  to 
him  seems  vital  and  which  could  not  be  expressed 
so  well  in  any  other  way. 

The  strange  liney  touch  of  a  Raffaelli  probably 
means  more  to  him  and  his  admirers  than  a  mere 


The  sketch 
and 
the  picture 


The  underlying 
purpose 


The  building  of  a  picture 

mannerism.  The  weird  dots,  lines  and  commas 
characteristic  of  the  French  pointilHst  school  find 
admirers  and  defenders  and — yes,   even  purchasers. 


The  painter's 
limitation 


Suggestlveness 


A  man  can  put  no  more  into  a  picture  than  he 
has   in   himself. 

This  would  be  a  very  unfortunate  thing  for  some 
of  us  were  it  not  that  many  spectators  are  able  to 
find  more  in  a  picture  than  the  artist  ever  put  there. 
Thus  an  admiring  critic  sometimes  has  as  much  to 
do  with  the  creation  of  a  great  work  of  art  as  the 
painter  himself  has.  He  teaches  the  public  what  to 
see  there,  and  it  sometimes  happens  that  he  sees 
far  above  the  painter's  head.  In  the  same  way  a 
suggestive  title  will  work  wonders  with  the  spirit 
of  a  picture. 

Suggestiveness  is  one  of  the  great  qualities.  It 
not  only  stimulates  the  imagination,  but  it  flatters 
the  spectator  by  taking  his  discernment  for  granted. 


When  a  picture  is  worked  out  to  the  last  detail 
its  story  is  definitely  told  to  the  last  word.  Its 
charm  is  soon  exhausted,  for  it  has  nothing  more  to 
say.  It  offends  the  amour  propre  like  the  story 
teller  who  insists  on  explaining  his  jokes. 


In  a  suggestive  picture  one  will  ahvays  find  some- 
thing new  and  fine  at  every  visit.  This  is  the  thing 
of  beauty  which  is  a  joy  forever. 


14 


The  vital  qualities 

Mystery  is  a  somewhat  similar  quality  in  paint- 
ing as  in  poetry.  It  is  continually  inviting  the 
imagination  to  excursions  into  the  realms  of  all 
pleasant   possibilities. 

If  it  should  be  objected  that  many  persons  are 
not  gifted  with  imagination  the  answer  is  plain  that 
such  pictures  are  not  painted  for  such  people.  They 
have  their  painters  of  turnips  and  brass  kettles. 

"What  is  that  object  in  the  foreground?"  asked  a 

lady  of  Turner,  standing  before  one  of  his  great  can-       Imagination 

the  interpreter 
vases. 

"What  does  it  look  like?"  he  in  turn  inquired. 

"I  think  it  looks  like  a  wheelbarrow." 

"Then   it   is   a   wheelbarrow." 

The  imagination  is  a  good  provider  of  entertain- 
ment. It  needs  only  a  hint,  a  gesture  to  indicate 
the  road  and  straightway  it  loses  itself  in  a  king- 
dom of  delights  of  its  own  creating.  The  power  of 
art — music,  painting  or  poetry — to  do  this  is  of  val- 
ue beyond  compare  over  its  power  to  please  the 
ear  or  the   eye. 

Therefore  paint  broadly  and  suggestively.  Take 
the  intelligence  of  the  spectator  for  granted.  He 
will  be  grateful  for  it.  If  he  sees  inferno  where 
you  meant  the  rivers  of  light,  that  is  his  own  affair. 
It  is  his  pleasure  so  to  see. 

«5 


THE    LOST    OCTAVES 


HE  MOST  causal  observer  must  have 
noticed  the  revohitionary  changes  in  the 
methods  of  picture  making  which  have 
come  about  in  recent  times.  Invention, 
discovery,  and  the  natural  evolution  to- 
wards perfection  have  all  been  at  work 
— sometimes  slowly,  but  oftener  by  leaps  and  bounds. 
The  insatiable  greed  for  novelty,  developing  nec- 
essarily out  of  the  competition  of  great  modern  pic- 
ture exhibitions  is  also  responsible  for  some  of  these 
changes. 

For  the  present  we  are  compelled  to  suspend  judg- 
ment as  to  whether  all  of  these  changes  are  for  the 
betterment  of  art  since  the  doctors  disagree  so  bit- 
terly about  even  the  foundation  principles  of  modern 

schools. 


Evolution 

In  art 


It  has  been  believed  for  three  centuries  past  that 


The  building  of  a  picture 

the  painters  of  the  renaissance  pushed  the  mechan- 
ical possibilities  of  their  art  to  their  utmost  limit, 
that  painting  then  attained  to  a  perfection  which 
has  not  since  been   equalled. 

Lq^j^j^  It  is  a  fact  that  ambitious  students  of  today  set 

backwards  themselves  seriously  to  study  the  works  of  Titian, 
Raphael  and  Velasquez  with  a  profound  reverence 
and  much  profit,  but  there  are  not  lacking  modern 
critics  to  tell  us  that  some  of  these  serious  moderns 
have  not  only  wrested  from  the  great  canvases  their 
golden  secrets,  but  that  they  have  surpassed  their 
masters  even  as  far  as  modern  science  has  surpassed 
the  old. 

Meantime  the  chemist  has  come  to  the  aid  of  the 
artist.  Steam,  electricity  and  invention  have  done 
their  part  in  cheapening  and  perfecting  materials 
and  appliances.  At  the  same  time  art  schools  have 
sprung  up  all  over  every  land.  The  accumulated 
knowledge  of  the  ages  is  added  to  the  thousand 
discoveries  of  our  time;  eyes  are  trained  to  see  the 
things  to  which  the  great  world  is  blind,  and  fingers 
are  trained  to  a  dexterity  in  manipulation  which 
leaves   nothing   beyond. 

It  seems  difficult  to  point  out  a  principle  which 
was  not  understood  by  our  fathers  or  a  single  qual- 
ity which  some  old  painter  did  not  produce.  It  is 
the  gathering  together  of  these  principles  and  these 
innumerable  discoveries  which  gives  to  the  modern 
painter  his  strength, 

i8 


The  lost  octaves 


As  to  truth  in  art— the  red  rag  of  the  schools— 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago  one  of  the  great  ones 
asked  pointedly,  "What  is  truth?"  and  the  Greatest 
One  was  silent.  He  had  no  answer  ready.  After 
all  the  volumes  written  and  all  the  hot  words  hastily 
spoken  on  this  subject  it  seems  futile  to  attempt  to 
throw  fresh  light  upon  it,  and  yet — since  we  must 
stand  somewhere  in  relation  to  this  question — let  us 
at  least  examine  the  ground  immediately  about  our 
feet. 


Truth 


We  take  up,  for  instance,  truth  of  light.  The 
subject  of  the  picture,  we  will  say,  is  a  wooded 
landscape.  The  lover  of  truth  lays  in  his  sky  with 
a  glowing  luminous  light,  then  he  adds  the  mass  of 
trees  in  tint  and  value  correctly,  thus  forcing  the 
sky  by  contrast  into  still  greater  brilliancy.  Again 
he  adds  the  foliage  shadows  and  bits  of  dark  stems 
and  in  doing  this  he  has  exhausted  the  resource  of 
his  palette — he  has  used  the  darkest  thing  he  has. 
But  nature  shows  him  a  hollow  tree  trunk  of  still 
more  somber  hue  and  nearer  still,  among  rocks  and 
weeds  and  logs  there  are  touches  of  still  deeper, 
infinitely  deeper,  gradations  and  yet  he  can  see  that 
they  are  not  black,  for  they  are  full  of  warm  and 
glowing    colors. 


The  real 

problem 


What  should  we  do  about  it,  leave  them  out  or 
pretend  they  are  not  so  dark  as  they  look? 

Or  try  another  case,  indoors  this  time.     This  man 
will  use  his  umber  or  Vandyke  or  black  or  bitumen, 

19 


The  missing 


The  building  of  a  picture 

which  is  much  blacker,  for  his  deep  shadows,  he 
will  paint  his  half-tones  in  their  just  relief  and  his 
gloss  and  shine  and  reflex  with  absolute  truth.  He 
will  even  paint  a  bit  of  white  drapery  or  a  high  light 
in  a  vase  and  still  keep  within  the  limits  of  truth. 
He  has  worked  from  black  to  white  and  again 
reached  the  limit  of  his  palette.  But  there  is  a  win- 
dow in  the  background  with  a  vista  of  trees  and 
buildings  and  sky,  and  the  darkest  thing  he  can 
see  out  there  is  lighter  than  the  lightest  thing  he 
has  yet  done. 

What  must  he  do?  Ignore  the  window  or  paint 
octaves  it  in  a  lower  key,  thus  painting  a  falsehood  accord- 
ing to  his  notion  of  the  matter?  Suppose  for  fur- 
ther illustration  that  a  beam  of  sunlight  should  sud- 
denly fall  across  the  bit  of  white  drapery,  the  light 
value  would  be  instantly  raised  at  least  five  octaves 
— reckoning  his  painted  scale  as  an  octave — therefore 
forever  five  .octaves  out  of  his  reach  as  a  painter  of 
truth. 


Or  suppose  again  the  two  pictures  are  broufrht  to- 
gether, each  having  been  painted  by  a  conscientious 
pre-raphelite  lover  of  truth.  It  will  at  once  be  per- 
ceived that  both  have  been  painted  on  the  same  scale 
and  octave,  both  ranging  from  black  to  white,  yet 
we  have  just  seen  that  there  are  at  least  four  octaves 
of  light  interposing  between  the  sunlight  of  outdoors 
and  the  semi-obscurity  of  a  window-lit  room.  Shall 
we  accuse  either  one  or  both  of  lying? 


The  lost  octaves 


No,  indeed.  Let  us  keep  out  of  the  quarrel  and 
leave  these  worthy  people  to  settle  the  matter  them- 
selves— if  they  can. 

As  for  ourselves,  we  will  take  the  lesson  to  heart 
and  finding  absolute  truth  of  values  to  be  out  of 
reach,  since  four  octaves  of  light  are  lost  to  us,  we 
will  at  least  try  to  paint  honestly  our  impressions  of 
what  we  see. 

Our  impressions — come  to  think  of  it — is  not  that 
the  vital  thing  after  all?  What  more  can  be  rea- 
sonably asked?  If  we  can  impress  others  as  nature 
has  impressed  us  it  is  enough.  Let  us  devise  ways 
and  means. 


Our 

Impressions 


First  of  all  we  may  choose  subjects  within  range 
of  our  limited  paint  and  where  this  is  not  possible 
we  may  translate  the  low  key  into  a  higher  or  the 
high  key  to  a  lower.  When  the  range  of  light  is  too 
great  for  our  single  octave  we  must  condense  the 
five  into  one  and  using  white  for  our  highest  light 
and  the  darkest  thing  we  have  for  the  deep  shadows 
will  distribute  our  half  tones  so  as  to  bring  them  all 
within  the  limited  scale  at  our  command. 


The  picture  will  certainly  lack  the  brilliancy  and 
vividness  of  natural  sunlight.  That  is  the  inevitable 
weakness  of  paint.  There  are  some  things  we  can 
do,  however,  which  will  compensate  for  this  weak- 
ness. 


The  weakness 
of  paint 


The  remedy 


The  building  of  a  picture 

Artists  estimate  each  other  solely  by  their  tech- 
nique. The  public  estimates  the  artists'  work  solely 
by  its  subject.  "I  know  what  I  like  but  I  can't  tell 
you  why"  is  the  common  formula. 

The  judgment  of  artists  is  the  final  verdict  in  every 
departrhent  of  art  no  matter  what  the  first  impression 
of  the  public  may  be,  therefore  questions  of  tech- 
nique are  of  the  first  importance  to  all  who  wish  to 
excel. 

Every  painter  whose  work  or  whose  future  is  of 
any  value  has  met  defeat  many  times  in  trying  to 
reach  nature's  color,  perhaps  in  a  sunset  sky,  per- 
haps in  a  flower  or  even  in  the  burnished  neck  of  a 
dove.  He  will  have  demonstrated  to  his  own  dis- 
satisfaction that  absolute  truth  of  color  is  impossible 
to  paint. 

The  purest  and  most  vivid  pigment  ever  produced 
is  as  the  grey  of  death  when  placed  in  competition 
with  the  burning  glory  of  sunlit  clouds.  The  sim- 
plest flower  is  absolute  despair  to  the  painter  who 
presumes  to  match  exactly  its  tender  or  glowing  hues 
and  yet  the  brilliancy  of  the  painted  sky  or  the  vivid- 
ness, or  the  tenderness,  or  the  delicacy  of  the  painted 
flower  is  sometimes  a  marvel  of  color  and  a  joy  to 
lof)k  upon. 

The  ability  to  produce  this  semblance  of  nature 
is  a  question  of  technique.     It  is  a  matter  of  con- 


The  lost  octaves 


trasts    and    harmonies    and    juxtapositions    of    pig- 
ments. 

When  men  began  to  study  landscape  seriously 
from  nature,  what  were  the  qualities  which  most 
impressed  them,  which  they  most  strove  for?  We 
may  find  the  answer  in  the  work  of  the  Barbizon 
men.  Not  that  they  were  the  earliest,  but  their  work 
is  best  known  and  easiest  of  access. 

It  was  the  tranquility  of  nature  first  of  all.     Then      ^  school 
its  mystery  and  the  infinite  grace  of  stem  and  foli-  °  ^^^^^ 

age. 

The  struggle  after  effect  or  catchiness  had  not 
yet  begun;  there  was  no  juggling  with  color  to 
simulate  sunshine  but  the  bigness  of  nature  and  the 
majesty  of  her  masses  were  their  all  sufficient 
reason  for  painting  her.  It  was  a  school  of  greys 
which  charmed  all  the  world  and  its  works  are 
eagerly  sought  after  even  today.  These  men  felt 
the  poetry  of  nature  and  painted  poems. 

These  same  great  qualities  of  nature  are  as  po- 
tent today  to  stir  the  feelings  and  charm  the  hearts 
of  men   as   ever  they   were. 

All  men  like  to  be  amused.  The  Kaleiodscopists 
who  confound  us  with  their  startling  combinations 
of  color  and  dazzle  us  with  the  glare  of  their 
painted  fireworks  are  all  welcome  because  they  all 
amuse.  The  prestidigitateurs  who  excite  our  as- 
tonishment by  their  impossible  technique,  also  have 

23 


The  building  of  a  picture 

their  place.  The  novelty  which  is  the  charm  and  the 
curse  of  modern  exhibitions  will  always  fascinate  all 
of  us  for  the  passing  moment  but  the  picture  to  live 
with   is  the   one  that  appeals  to   the   heart. 


The  impression  Plato  in  "The  Sophist"  urges  the  need  of  some- 

of  truth  times   departing   from   exact  truth   in   order   to  get 

the  appearance  of  beautiful  forms.  In  painting 
there  are  numerous  cases  in  which  this  departure 
from  exact  truth  is  justified  by  results.  Although 
we  cannot  reach  the  intensity  of  sunlight  there  are 
mechanical  means  by  which  we  may  approach  the 
appearance  of  its  glow  and  dazzle.  Though  we 
find  paint  too  dull  to  express  the  glory  of  nature's 
colors,  we  can  yet  find  means  to  produce  much  of 
the  impression  which  nature  gives  us. 
JS 

The  Dutch  The  Dutch  painters  set  us  an  example  of  reticence 

picture         in    color    and    light    which    has    a    large    following 
among  the  younger  American  painters. 

A  low  key  and  a  short  scale  of  light,  a  careful 
economy  of  color,  a  simple  composition  and  a 
touching  sentiment.  This  is  the  formula  for  a  good 
Dutch  picture.  Each  quality  appeals  to  the  imag- 
ination and  each  is  within  reach  without  straining 
or  exaggeration.  To  this  school  intensity  of  light 
and  purity  of  color  present  no  problems. 

All  the  world  is  not  grey  mist,  however,  nor  all 
24 


The  lost  octaves 

the  time  twilight.  So  long  as  humanity  loves 
warmth  and  light  and  joy,  so  long  will  artists  try 
to  paint  them.  The  more  difficult  the  problem  the 
greater  the  number  of  courageous  painters  who  will 
concern  themselves  about  it. 

During  the  second  quarter  of  this  century  there 
arose  a  great  cry  after  truth  in  art.  The  books 
were  full  of  it.  The  schools  were  full  of  it.  The 
clamor  was  so  great  and  so  continuous  that  the 
younger  generation  began  to  think  that  truth  had 
never  been  told  before.  It  inspired  a  jarreat  move- 
ment toward  a  new  and  closer  analysis  of  nature. 

All  the  world  took  its  color  box  and  umbrella 
to  the  woods,  the  sea  shore,  the  fields,  the  moun- 
tains. It  began  to  gather  facts — facts  of  light,  of 
color,  of  movement  and  more  especially  and  abund- 
antly, facts  of  detail.  Critics  and  authors  alike  ap- 
plauded the  movement.  It  began  to  seem  as  if  the 
only  purpose  of  art  was  to  catalogue  the  facts  of 
nature.  The  landscapes  of  the  time  are  amusing 
in  their  naive  sincerity,  their  industrious  research 
after  utterly  worthless  detail. 

With  the  inevitable  reaction  came  a  saner  method, 
simpler  subjects,  the  suppression  of  redundant  de- 
tail, a  preference  for  the  larger  qualities,  for  the 
breadth,  the  majestv.  the  poetry,  the  mystery,  the 
infinity  of  nature. 

Problems  of  atmosphere  and  light  began  to  oc- 
cupy attention,  until  presently  it  was  found  that 
a  new  world  was  opening  upon  the  vision  of  man- 
kind. 


The  truth 

bogey 


The  building  of  a  picture 

The  beautiful  vision  was  not  at  first  welcomed  in 
the  camps  of  the  elect.  They  reviled  it  and  nick- 
named it  impressionism,  but  the  movement  kept  on 
the  even  tenor  of  its  way,  winning  fresh  admirers 
every   day. 

Like  many  another  p-ood  thing,  as  soon  as  it  had 
won  recognition  and  applause,  it  became  the  vic- 
tim of  its  friends.  Its  name  was  made  sponsor  for 
every  wild  whimsey  of  the  faddist  and  insane  phant- 
asm of  the  color  crank. 

The  lumlnarlsts  Qut  of  the  first  movement  towards  impressionism 

came  the  luminarists,  men  who  made  the  study 
of  sunshine  their  special  domain,  and  out  of  the 
whole  turmoil  has  come  a  rational  plein-air  method 
of  landscape  painting  which  in  spite  of  the  faddist 
is  nearer  perfection  today  than  ever  it  has  been 
before. 

During  the  third  quarter  of  this  century  Mariano 
Fortuny  struck  a  new  note  in  the  painting  of  light 
for  which  there  seemed  to  have  been  no  preparation. 
A*  Spaniard  by  birth,  of  warm  and  glowing  tem- 
perament, he  was  one  of  the  first  painters  to  visit 
the  lands  of  the  sun  in  North  Africa,  Algiers  and 
Tunis.  With  this  rendering  of  sunshine  studied  in 
the  new  mode  under  almost  exaggerated  conditions 
and  with  subjects  which  naturally  lend  themselves 
to  brilliant  effects,  his  vivid  canvasses  fairly  daz- 
zled his  contemporaries  for  awhile. 


The  lost  octaves 

Every  phase  of  sunlight  and  sun-cast  shadow 
began  to  be  subjected  to  study  and  analysis.  For 
fifteen  years  the  walls  of  the  Salon  were  ablaze 
with  the  sparkle,  the  glow,  the  dazzle  and  the  glit- 
ter of   sun-lit   surfaces. 

Naturally,  so  much  earnest  study  led  to  a  good 
deal  of  fresh  knowledge  about  paint  and  its  pos- 
sibilities. 

Luminosity  is  a  quality  much  prized  in  painting, 
not  only  in  sunlight,  but  in  indoor  and  other  dark 
pictures.  The  discoveries  of  the  luminarists  have 
proved  an  enduring  gift. 

Madrazo,  Rico  and  a  host  of  lesser  investigators 
have  brought  down  the  traditions  of  the  school  and 
added  much  fresh  information.  ^*"®/ 

Black  shadows  and  sharp  edges  have  gradually 
given  place  to  color  contrasts,  loaded  lights,  broad, 
cool  shadows  suffused  with  reflexes,  cool  from  the 
sky  and  warm  from  the  earth,  the  blue  or  purple 
edge  of  a  cast  shadow  being  made  to  enhance  by 
contrast  the  warmth  of  sunlight,  just  as  nature 
does  it. 

Nowadays  every  tyro  knows  that  a  shadow  need 
not  be  black  to  force  light  into  warmth  and  vividness, 
that  a  reflex  lighted  shadow  gives  infinitely  more 
brilliant  suggestion  of  intensity  of  sunlight,  that 
dark  sides  should  be  warm  and  cast  shadows  blue 
with    sharp,    clean    cut    edges    while    the    light    it- 

27 


outcome 


The  building  of  a  picture 

self  owes  all  its  glow  to  its  warmth  rather  than  to 
its  high  key. 

These  things  are  among  the  common  formulae 
taught  in  every  school,  but  few  who  use  them  real- 
ize with  what  incredible  pains  and  through  what 
slow  development  the  knowledge  has  been  added 
to  the  common  heritap-e  of  the  world 


-  ^-^f\ 


THE    KEY    NOTE 


T  IS  maintained  by  some  writers  that  the 
color  sense  in  man  is  still  in  a  state  of  evo- 
lution. The  spectroscope  and  the  photo- 
graph take  note  of  a  number  of  colors  that 
are  invisible  to  mortal  eyes  except  through 
their  aid. 

Certain  it  is  that  color  in  the  eyes  of  an  Alaskan 
Indian  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the  color  we 
know  and  enjoy  in  civilized  art.  There  seems  a 
difference  even  between  color  as  used  by  an  English 
painter,  for  instance,  and  color  as  seen  and  under- 
stood by  a  French  artist,  a  difference  not  alto- 
gether accounted  for  by  the  difference  in  tempera- 
ment and  training. 

The  ultra-refined  discrimination  of  obscure  tones 

29 


Evolution 

of  the 
color  sense 


Complexity 
of  color 


The  building  of  a  picture 

as  seen  in  our  best  art  is  something  beyond  the 
understanding,  if  not  beyond  the  perception,  of  the 
uncultured  eye.  The  perception  of  it  is  as  a  new 
sense.  The  pleasure  derived  from  it  is  one  altogether 
denied  to  the  untaught. 

No  book  can  take  the  place  of  experience  with 
color.  Its  combinations  are  infinite.  Accidental 
mixture  and  juxtaposition  are  often  as  exquisite  as 
they  are  surprising.  The  mind  should  be  kept  alert 
for  them.  Only  through  the  medium  of  thousands 
of  experiments  can  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the 
powers  and  possibilities  of  paint  be  determined. 

Primaries  and  secondaries  are  exceedingly  rare  in 
nature.  W€  speak  of  green  trees  and  blue  sky,  but 
we  use  the  words  only  with  a  general  or  modified 
meaning.  A  blue  sky  is  usually  a  cool  gray.  If 
trees  have  any  pure  green  in  them  it  occurs  in  only 
small  points  as,  for  instance,  where  a  leaf  transmits 
sunlight.  The  mass  of  foliage  is  made  up  of  green- 
ish greys  of  infinite  variety. 


Accent 

of  color 


In  every  fine  work  of  color  there  may  be  found 
somewhere  a  touch  of  primary  or  secondary,  or  it 
may  be  even  tertiary,  color  which  dominates  the 
entire  color  scheme.  It  is  the  key  note.  Some- 
times in  a  picture  of  pronounced  tonality  it  will  be 
a  touch,  a  concentration  of  the  leading  tone,  oftener 
it  will  be  a  color  complementary  to  the  mass  of  the 
picture.     It  is  said  that  Sir  Edwin  Landseer  could 


The  key  note 


never  finish  a  picture  without  a  spot  of  red  some- 

where. 

A  dull  grey  morning.  A  shishy  road  bordered 
by  somber  dripping  trees.  In  the  distance  a  woman 
appears  wearing  a  purple  shawl.  Instantly  the  whole 
landscape  lights  up  with  color.  The  dull  green  is 
complemented  and  enriched,  the  leaden  sky  has 
become  a  tender  lavender.  It  all  vibrates  together 
like  a  sweet  minor  chord.    It  has  found  its  key  note. 

A  group  of  students  watching  with  delight  the 
shifting  reflection  of  white  clouds  and  white  sails 
and  blue  sky  on  tremulous  water,  mingling  with  the 
black  shadows  of  the  pier.  Out  from  beneath  floats 
an  orange.  The  students  laugh  together.  It  is  the 
revelation  of  the  key  note.  The  sweet  little  song 
has  suddenly  burst  into  a  resonant  gloria. 


Pick  up  anywhere  a  decaying  twig,  a  mossy  stone 
or  a  withered  leaf.  Look  into  the  intricacies  of  its 
texture,  the  manifold  gradations  of  its  ever  changing 
surface.  Each  square  inch  is  a  complete  color 
scheme,  a  sufficient  basis  for  a  picture,  a  formula 
which  will  be  safe  to  follow. 


Infinite 

harmonies 
of  nature 


It  is  vain  to  cudgel  the  weary  and  bankrupt  brain 
for  novel  combinations.  Go  to  the  nearest  rubbish 
heap  and  draw  at  will  from  an  exhaustless  treasure 
house. 

31 


The  building  of  a  picture 


Influence  of 
shade 
on  color 


There  are  two  distinct  conditions  of  color  which 
should  be  borne  in  mind. 

In  brilliant  and  warm  sunshine  its  color  is  diffused 
over  everything  until  the  lights  are  simply  patches 
of  warm  yellow,  every  other  color  being  almost  or 
entirely  absorbed  in  it,  while  the  intensity  of  the 
light  dazzles  the  eye  to  the  utter  extinction  of 
detail. 

In  this  case  the  local  color  and  detail  will  be 
found  rich  and  distinct  in  the  shadow. 

On  the  contrary,  when  objects  are  seen  in  a  neu- 
tral light  with  deep  shadows  and  faint  reflexes  the 
local  color  and  detail  will  be  found  mostly  in  the 
lights,  both  being  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  deep 
shadows. 


Morning  light 


Remember  that  the  color  of  sunlight  varies  con- 
tinually. It  is  usually  yellow  but  may  vary  through 
red  to  orange  and  even  to  green  and  other  cool 
tones. 

On  a  warm,  clear  morninir  while  the  cool  grey 
draperies  of  night  still  cling  about  the  tree  and 
mountain  shadows  the  yellow  of  slanting  sunbeams 
is  intensified  by  contrast.  There  is  no  pigment  in 
the  palatte  too  warm  to  express  their  glow.  A't  the 
zenith  the  sky  is  blue,  consequently  all  the  light 
falling  into  the  shadows  is  blue. 


When  the  sun  rises  rosy,  shining  through  a  film 
of  high  fog  bank  after  a  cool,  misty  night  the  world 


32 


The  key  note 


is  pink  and  violet,  to  many  eyes  the  most  beautiful 
expression  of  color  in  nature  when  seen  over  a 
dewey  cool  green  foreground. 

riic  abuse  or  exaggeration  of  this  effect  gives  rise 
to  "the  purple  vice,"  Beware  of  it.  It  is  the  leaven 
of  the  pseudo-impressionist.  Purple,  lavender,  violet 
and  their  nameless  brood  are  the  most  seductive 
tones  of  the  palette  to  a  half-trained  eye  and  a 
source  of  boundless  joy  to  the  most  cultured  sense 
when  laid  on  with  the  myriad  gradations  of  a  master 
touch  and  balanced  into  perfect  music  by  their  true 
aflhiities. 

What  has  just  been  said  of  the  color  of  sunlight 
gives  the  key  to  the  quality  known  as  tone  without 
wiiich  no  picture  can  satisfy  the  mind — or  the  jury. 

Whatever  may  be  the  prevailing  tone  of  the  light 
be  it  indoors  or  out,  be  it  pink,  orange,  yellow  or 
blue,  every  touch  and  tint  laid  on  must  be  suffused 
with  it  more  or  less.  Some  of  the  old  painters  are 
said  to  have  depended  on  glazes  and  varnishes  for 
this  tone.  What  is  called  the  mellowing  of  a  picture 
by  age  is  nothing  more  than  yellowing  of  the  tone 
by  the  oxidizing  of  the  oils. 

It  is  related  that  one  of  the  late  eighteenth  cen- 
tury curators  of  the  Louvre  Galleries,  himself  a 
Netherlander,  that  he  "restored"  all  the  Dutch  pic- 
:urcs  in  the  collection  with  a  golden  yellow  varnish. 
Their  rich  golden  tone  is  the  admiration  of  old 
naster  worshippers  to  this  day. 

33 


The  purple  vice 


Tonality 


The  building  of  a  picture 

It  often  happens  that  where  a  subject  is  first  laid 
in  with  a  few  simple  masses  it  seems  entirely  satis- 
factory as  a  theme.  Afterwards  when  the  canvas 
is  all  covered  with  the  tones  intended,  that  is,  when 
the  background  is  in,  we  find  the  thing  stale,  flat  and 
profitless.  It  is  not  what  we  meant  at  all.  The 
remedy  is  to  go  back  to  first  conditions.  The  color 
or  value  of  the  canvas  was  the  proper  complement 
to  the  subject.  The  components  of  the  canvas 
color  formed  the  proper  tone,  or  the  light  value  of 
the  canvas  was  the  proper  relief  for  it,  probably 
both. 

In  the  early  morning  while  the  blue  of  the  sky  is 
the  dominating  note  we  say  the  tone  is  cool.  In 
the  blazing  orange  of  an  afternoon  sun  everything 
is  permeated  with  its  warmth.  A  pure  blue  or  cold 
purple  is  impossible  under  such  a  light.  We  say  the 
scene  is  warm  in  tone.  So  it  is  said  of  a  picture 
that  it  has  tone  when  every  part  is  kept  consistently 
subordinate  to  the  key  of  color  adopted  for  it, 
whether  it  be  gray,  yellow,  red  or  blue. 

The  yellowing  of  the  picture  by  age  will  sometimes 
The  "Old  give  it  tone  which  it  lacked  originally.    The  word  is 

Master"  tone  sometimes  used  to  mean  a  certain  diffused  warmth. 
There  are  still  some  people  living  who  affect  to  be- 
lieve that  the  brown  and  yellow  tone  of  the  old  mas- 
ters is  beautiful  and  that  their  pictures  were  origin- 
ally so  painted.  To  them  "tone"  means  yellow  var- 
nish. 

34 


The  key  note 


This  tonality  is  an  important  thing  to  be  consid- 
ered in  planning  a  picture.  It  should  agree  with  the 
time  and  sentiment  of  the  subject.  Obviously  red  or 
yellow  would  be  wrong  for  a  moonlight.  A  blue 
toned  "noon"  would  be  just  as  bad. 

Most  eyes  delight  in  rich,  warm  color  and  most 
pictures  of  exceptionally  good  tone  are  painted  in  a 
warm  key.  The  essential  thing,  however,  is  the 
perfect  consistency  of  all  the  colors  with  each  other, 
every  dot  and  dash  bemg  permeated  more  or  less  by 
the  tonal  color. 

Language  is  a  slow  way  and  a  poor  way  of  ex- 
pressing ideas.  Many  books  there  are  on  the  subject 
of  harmony  of  color  with  many  fanciful  theories  of 
harmony,  but  all  the  books  ever  written  cannot  value 
a  single  half-hour  spent  with  a  fine  work  of  some 
master  colorist. 

None  of  the  theorists  provide  for  the  exquisite, 
heart-gladdening  combinations  which  seem  almost 
accidental  in  the  painting  and  which  nature  flings 
into  every  corner  with  lavish  abundance. 


To  a  savage  perhaps  there  may  be  but  six  colors, 
red,  blue,  yellow,  purple,  green  and  orange.  These 
have  a  distinct  individuality  which  is  obvious  to 
every  intelligence.  Citron,  russet  and  olive  are  also 
permitted  to  be  known  by  name  to  those  who  read. 

35 


Color  harmonies 


The  color  sense 


The  building  of  a  picture 

The  six  colors  are  like  the  harmonic  notes  of  i  1 
bugle,  stirring  the  blood  and  waking  the  imagination, 
but  they  are  little  capable  of  expressing  sentiment 
except  in  the  hands  of  a  consummate  master. 


But  what  of  the  limitless,  nameless,  brood,  progeny 
of  the  three  primaries,  which  to  the  untutored  are 
simply  grey.  Every  tint  of  them  are  individual  to  the 
artist  as  the  faces  of  his  own  children.  These  are 
the  materials  out  of  which  pictures  are  made,  ma- 
terials which  nature  uses  so  lavishly  and  so  carelessly 
as  to  astound  us  with  her  bounty. 


Red,  blue  and  yellow  art  delighted  the  souls  of 
the  Egyptians  six  thousand  years  ago  as  it  delights 
the  souls  of  infants  and  Indians  today.  So  do  violet, 
orange  and  green  satisfy  the  eye  cravings  of  pseudo- 
impressionists.  The  cultured  mind  and  eye  find 
their  uttermost  joy^  in  the  company  of  that  limitless, 
nameless  brood  of  greys  with  only  a  family  re- 
semblance to  the  primary  stocks  from  which  they 
sprang. 

The  truth  is  that  harmony  of  color  defies  analysis 
and  overrides  theories.  How  often  we  have  been 
told  that  a  blonde  must  not  wear  yellow  nor  a  bru- 
nette violet,  yet  in  practice  we  find  that  both  find 
their  most  fitting  splendor  in  the  things  that  are  for- 
bidden  them. 


The  key  note 


Yet,  experience  has  taught  us  a  number  of 
formulae,  which  may  be  relied  on  to  always  please. 
These  formulae  are  useful.  It  is  wise  to  have  a  good 
stock  of  them  always  in  memory  but  the  exquisite 
arrangements  which  surprise  and  delight  us  in  art 
are  oftenest  the  result  of  momentary  inspiration  or  of 
accident. 


A  grey  day.  A  simple  grey  sky  with  infinite  deli- 
cate gradations  of  cool  color  accented  at  the  horizon 
with  dark  mountains  or  trees.  A  foreground  of 
tender  green  grading  into  sky  greys  in  the  distance. 
A  tree  or  a  building  for  shadow.  Behold  a  color 
scheme  perennially  sweet  like  an  old  Gregorian 
chant! 

A  strong  purple  or  rich  brown  dark  horizon 
against  a  gleaming  yellow  sky.  A  foreground  in  cool 
low  half  tones  with  warm  sky  reflexes.  The  stock 
in  trade  of  many  an  old  painter.  Contrast  of  color 
is  frequently  used  as  relief  in  the  same  way  as  shade 
values.  A  spot  of  bright  color  will  often  accent  an 
important  incident  in  the  picture  quite  as  well  as  a 
high  light  or  shadow  will,  and  without  disturbing  the 
composition.  Contrast  is  also  used  as  a  means  of 
forcing  the  brilliancy  of  color.  The  warmth  and  in- 
tensity of  sunshine  are  equally  enhanced  by  con- 
trasting the  orange  or  yellow  light  with  blue  or  pur- 
ple shadows. 

"Who  ever  saw  a  red  horse  with  a  blue  shadow?" 
exclaimed  a  critic  the  other  day. 

37 


Simple 

harmonies 


Value  of 
contrast 


The  building  of  a  picture 

Some  untaught  people  will  tell  you  that  they  do 
not  see  shadows  always  blue.  True,  neither  does  the 
artist,  for  that  matter.  Both  see  the  golden  glare  of 
sunshine.  That  vivid  contrast  of  color  is  the  only 
way  to  get  it  in  paint.  The  small  truth  of  color  is 
sacrificed  to  gain  the  greater  truth  of  light. 


Sacrificing  ^^^  burning  glory  of  a  sunset  sky  or  the  dazzling 

small  truths         brilliancy  of  midday  sunshine  are  not  attainable  in 

for  greater      paint,  but  by  means  of  this  sacrifice  of  color  truth 

we   can    come   a   little   nearer   to    it.     It   is   worth 

while  to  make  almost  any  sacrifice  to  come  even  a 

little  nearer. 

This  question  of  the  influence  of  colors  on  each 
other  has  always  a  lively  interest.  For  instance,  a 
rosy  cloud  may  be  found  on  experiment  to  have  no 
red  in  it  at  all.  It  is  made  to  appear  rosy  by  a 
slight  greenish  hue  in  the  blue,  being  actually  a 
neutral  grey. 


Color 

a  question 
of  contrast 


In  nature  grey  is  sometimes  so  altered  by  its  sur- 
roundings that  it  is  diflficult  to  find  its  components 
in  paint.  The  difficulty  is  solved  by  simply  holding 
up  in  front  of  it  a  brush  charged  with  any  known 
color.  The  contrast  will  reveal  the  composition  of 
the  obscure  tone.  All  greys  being  compositions  of 
red,  blue  and  yellow  it  is  easily  seen  which  pre- 
odminates  and  which  is  lacking. 


The  key  note 

There  are  painters  who  feel  great  enough  to  ignore 
the  beauty  of  color,  who  delight  in  strange,  weird, 
bizarre  combinations,  talking  slang,  punning,  even 
swearing  in  color.  Why?  Perhaps  to  advertise 
their  cleverness.  Certainly,  not  to  make  the  worlcj 
wiser. 

When  we  speak  of  color  we  think  of  something 
distinct  from  colors.    The 

"Greenery  yallery 
Grosvenor  gallery 
Out  of  the  way  young  man" 
of  Gilbert  and   Sullivan's  opera  "Patience"  marked 
an  era  in  history.    The  civilized  world  was  just  then 
awakening  to  the  fact  of  a  higher  life  of  the  senses 
and    through    them    a    higher    spiritual    life.      The 
aesthetic  craze  came  and  passed  but  left  behind  it  a 
saner  understanding  of  beauty  in  color  which  then 
came  to  be  recognized  as  something  finer,  richer  and 
worthier   than   mere  colors. 


Acrobatic 

painters 


It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  an  amateur  pro- 
duce and  destroy  the  finest  color  schemes  appar- 
ently without  having  recognized  them.  Some  tem- 
peraments seem  to  feel  color  instinctively,  to  find 
beautiful  combinations  without  effort  and  to  recog- 
nize harmonies  readily.  This  gift  may  be  the  result 
of  fortunate  environment,  or  it  may  be  inherited.  It 
is  this  inherent  abihty  to  seize  and  utilize  the  rarer 
and  finer  harmonies  which  gives  the  quality  we  know 
as  "distinction"   in   color. 


Distinction 


The'^  building  of  a  picture 

Evolution  of  A  young   artist   usually  begins   by   experimenting 

t  e  palette  ^j^j^  every  color  he  can  find.  Experience  will 
teach  him  to  select  those  pigments  which  best  suit 
his  purpose,  his  palette  becoming  continually  sim- 
pler. The  present  century  has  seen  the  invention  or 
discovery  of  many  new  pigments  each  having  some 
special  excellence  of  its  own.  Certain  cliques  are 
now  beginning  to  discard  all  the  earths  as  being  il- 
logical broken  tints  or  impure  color  mixtures.  The 
tendency  seems  to  be  continually  towards  the  use 
of  pure  colors,  primaries  and  secondaries,  chemical 
products  all  of  them. 

A  palette  of  broken  tints — umbers,  siennas,  ochres, 
etc. — is  useful  in  unskilled  hands  in  counteracting 
any  tendency  towards  crudeness.  The  pure  color 
palette  on  the  other  hand  may  do  harm  in  encour- 
aging mere  prettiness  of  color  to  the  neglect  of  the 
more  sober  and  refined  harmonies. 
*.*■*' 

"The  'Light  Red'  humbug"  is  the  way  a  noted 
Parisian  teacher  once  referred  to  the  use  of  earths 
and  other  broken  tones. 

There  may  be  something  in  it,  but  another  genera- 
tion will  be  needed  to  prove  the  worth  of  the  new 
mode.  Meanwhile  we  will  remember  that  for  some 
hundreds  of  years  painters  have  been  limited  almost 
solely  to  those  imperfect  and  broken  tones  and  they 
produced  with  them  some  works  which  merit  our 
respectful  consideration. 


The  key  note 


Try  ultramarine,  alizarine  crimson  and  aurora  yel- 
low. Almost  every  shade  and  tint  under  the  sun 
can  be  produced  from  them  with  flake  white.  If 
they  were  all  absolutely  pure  and  transparent  colors 
nothing  more  could  be  desired. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  sides  that  the  tendency  of  the 
neo-impressionist  movement  is  towards  the  deco- 
rative in  color  rather  than  the  purely  natural  and 
imitative.  If  this  is  freely  admitted  by  the  school 
as  it  is  by  many  of  its  leading  exponents  the  last 
remnant  of  objection  to  impressionism  vanishes. 

Impressionist  color  has  always,  or  rather  usually 
been  beautiful,  though  often  extravagant.  The  woi;ld 
wept  over  it  only  when  it  was  told  that  impression- 
ists really  saw  Nature  as  they  painted  her.  So  long 
as  we  tolerate  satyrs,  dragons  and  brownies  in  art 
we  cannot  reasonably  object  to  the  purple  cow  or  the 
blue  milkmaid.  They  are  alike  creatures  of  the 
imagination.  If  they  have  beauty  they  fulfill  their 
mission. 

Broad  planes  of  well  considered  color,  pure  colors 
or  simple  mixtures,  delicate  but  simple  harmonies; 
these  are  the  characteristics  of  the  best  decorative 
painting.  It  is  always  more  or  less  conventional  in 
color  and  often  conventional  in  drawing  as  well. 


The  light  and  color  of  the  mural  work  of  Puvis 
de  Chavannes  was  never  seen  on  land  or  sea,  but 


A  decorative 
tendency 


The  building  of  a  picture 


their  beauty  and  aptness  has  never  been  questioned. 
When  we  have  learned  to  distinguish  between  im- 
aginative and  decorative  work  and  frankly  put  each 
in  its  place  we  have  removed  another  hindrance  to 
our  peace. 


TECHNIQUE 


PICTURE  is  finished  when  the  means 
taken  to  produce  it  arc  completely  hid- 
den."    IVIiistler. 


This  motto  has  been  held   for  many 

years    as    an    unassailable    dogma    with 

painters    of   all    schools    down    to    these    degenerate 

days  when  smart  painting  is  thought  to  be  its  own 

reason  for  being. 


A  great  orator  is  known  by  his  abundance  of  ideas, 
his  fervid  or  passionate  delivery,  his  appropriate 
language  and  perfect  modulation  of  voice.  Even  a 
commonplace  subject  becomes  important  and  is  dig- 
nified by  his  manner  of  delivery. 

43 


Value 

of  method 


The  building  of  a  picture 


So  ill  the  hands  of  a  great  painter  a  bold,  brilHant, 
masterly  handling  of  the  brush  with  a  refined  and 
original  color  sense  may  dignify  and  make  splendid 
even  the  flimsiest  theme. 

Facile  brushwork  is  an  easy  flow  of  language. 
Correct  manipulation  is  good  grammar.  Composi- 
tion is  its  rhetoric.  If  fine  words  clothe  a  fine  idea 
so  much  the  better. 

There  be  some  wise  men  who  speak  but  stam- 
meringly  and  some  clever  talkers  who  have  nothing 
to  impart.  So  it  is  in  painting.  This  is  why  there 
are  so  many  empty  canvases. 

The  lang^uage  Painting  is  a  language  simply.     A  cultured  speak- 

of  paint  jj^g  voice  with  a  sweet  tone  and  an  easy  command 
of  words  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  listen  to  but  it  must 
express  ideas  to  hold  our  attention.  Sweet  color  and 
facile  brushwork,  all  the  mechanical  qualities  of  a 
picture  are  good  and  pleasant  things,  but  if  they 
fail  to  instruct  or  amuse  or  move  us  they  are  mean- 
ingless gabble. 

Men  paint  much  as  they  talk.  Color  and  brush- 
work  may  be  flippant,  audacious  or  insolent.  Thev 
may  degenerate  into  even  a  pun.  There  are  canvases 
which  seem  forever  shouting  with  a  conceited  swag- 
ger "Me  voila!" 

The  eye  is  much  keener  of  perception  than  is  the 
consciousness.     Every  surface  in  nature  is  made  up 

44 


Technique 


of  an  infinite  multitude  of  varied  colors  so  minute      Disintegration 
that   the   mind    is   unconscious   of   them  but   if   we  °'  ^^'^'^ 

substitute  for  any  natural  surface  a  flat  tint  of  paint 
the  eye  rejects  the  imitation  at  once  even  before 
llic  understanding  is  appealed  to. 

If  a  bit  of  Bouguerrcau's  flesh  painting  is  exam- 
ined closely  it  will  be  found  to  be  composed  of 
minute  dots  of  the  various  tints  into  which  flesh 
color  decomposes  under  the  minutest  scrutiny,  the 
rose  tones  of  the  blood,  the  lavender  of  the  veins, 
the  pale  violet  of  the  high  light  and  ruddy  greys  of 
tlic  darks;  a  complex  touch  only  realized  by  enor'- 
mous  labor.  A  square  inch  will  contain  hundreds  of 
little  dots  laid  side  by  side  with  masterly  knowledge 
and  infinite  patience.  Seen  at  the  proper  distance 
they  blend  in  a  perfectly  harmonious  color.  The 
result  is  an  effect  of  imitation  almost  illusive. 

Many  other  painters  have  many  other  methods  of 
arriving  at  the  same  effect,  all  depending  on  th<? 
mingling  of  component  tints  without  complete  mix- 
ture. This  is  known  as  "the  disintegration  of  color" 
and  its  object  is  the  quality  known  as  "vibration." 

Most  modern  painters  prefer  to  take  the  various 
tints  which  make  up  a  color  and  allow  the  brush  to 
mix  them  very  slightly  in  the  act  of  laying  on  with 
a  swift  stroke.  The  result  satisfies  the  ey.e  and  the 
end  is  attained  with  but  little  labor. 

45 


The  fresh, 

clean  touch 


The  building  of  a  picture 

One  of  the  most  eminent  of  French  luminarists 
was  Manet,  father  of  the  impressionist  school.  He 
produced  his  marvelous  color  by  laying  side  by  side 
alternate  strokes  in  pastel,  of  the  component  tints 
of  any  given  color,  trusting  to  distance  to  mingle 
them  into  the  required  tone.  All  the  world  knows 
with  what  surprise  and  delight  his  magical  creations 
were  greeted  when  shown  together  at  the  Academie 
des  Beaux  Arts  in  Paris. 

Many  hands  took  up  the  problem  and  carried 
Manet's  analysis  to  its  logical  conclusions.  For  a 
long  time  the  disintegration  of  color  has  been  an 
accepted  doctrine  and  common  practice. 

"Consider  nature  a  Mosaic  of  various  colors  and 
reproduce  them  stroke  for  stroke.  Does  it  make  a 
sort  of  fresco?  Yes,  something  even  better.  Mosaic." 
— Ruskin. 

The  freshness  and  clearness  of  color  laid  on  the 
canvas  with  a  single  stroke  is  the  foundation  secret 
of  brilliant  painting,  the  basis  of  much  of  the  best 
technique. 

When  each  tint  and  gradation  is  studied  and 
mixed  on  the  palette,  put  into  its  place  with  one 
touch  and  then  carefully  left  alone  we  get  what  Rus- 
kin refers  to  as  "Mosaic."  Seen  close  at  hand  some 
eyes  may  be  offended  by  its  apparent  want  of  unity, 
like  a  brass  band  heard  too  near,  but  the  proper 
distance  merges  it  all  into  music. 
46 


» 


Technique 


"Should  a  brush  handle  be  three  feet  or  five  feet 
in  length?" 

The  apochryphal  quarrel  over  this  question  among 
the  pre-Raphaclites  may  have  had  a  grain  of  truth 
in  its  origin.  As  men  become  more  skilled  in  tech- 
nique they  seek  more  and  more  to  paint  from  a  dis- 
tance that  the  blending  of  disintegrated  color  may 
be  seen  as  it  progresses. 


The  problems  which  most  occupy  the  attention  of 
modern  painters  and  discriminate  the  new  art  from 
the  old  arc  mostly  the  result  of  the  nlein-air  move- 
ment. There  is  no  evidence  that  any  of  the  old 
painters  ever  studied  their  subjects  in  the  open  air. 
On  the  contrary,  it  seems  evident  that  their  out-of- 
door  subjects  were  painted  in  dimly-lit  rooms,  result- 
ing in  a  conventional  and  unnatural  color.  The  first 
good  out-door  work  is  yet  but  little  more  than  a  cen- 
tury old,  while  the  general  acceptance  and  practice 
of  out-door  work  is  less  than  half  that  age. 


Outdoor 

painting 


Every  painter  has  experienced  more  or  less  of  the 
pleasure  and  surprise  of  making  a  brilliant  and 
beautiful  sketch  under  the  impulse  of  a  strong  feel- 
ing and  afterwards  the  bitterness  of  ruining  the 
same  in  the  attempt  to  carry  it  forward  to  a  finish. 

There  are  two  reasons  operating  towards  this  dis- 
astrous result,  one  of  which  is  purely  mechanical.  In 
the  haste  and  rush  of  urgent  expression  the  mixture 
of  pigments  is  incomplete,  edges  are  left  undefined 
and   details   neglected,   everything  is  subordinate  to 


Value  of  the 
first  impulse 


47 


The  building  of  a  picture 


the  one  idea,  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  sketch.  The 
swift  stroke  is  full  of  grace,  the  hasty  mixture  is 
full  of  Httle  refinements  of  gradation,  little  runs  of 
color,  little  accidental  harmonies  which  the  mind  is 
scarcely  capable  of  thinking  out  systematically.  The 
imperfect  contours  and  hasty  brushing  are  full  of 
suggestions  which  appeal  to  the  mind  as  well  as  tliQ 
eye. 

The  other  reason  is  an  intellectual  one.  The 
stimulus  of  a  strong  emotion  makes  the  senses  keen 
and  the  thinking  clear.  Values  are  perceived  and 
given  with  truth  with  a  stroke  bold  and  accurate. 

The  attempt  to  improve  such  work  as  this  in  cold 
blood  and  a  judicial  temper  is  Hke  patching  cloth  of 
gold  with  twelve  ounce  duck.  The  original  im- 
pulse being  expended  can  never  be  revived  again. 
Neither  learning  nor  patience  can  take  its  place. 

Decorative  art  Imitation    is    an    instinct    with    the    human    being, 

and  fine  art  We  point  to  the  etching  of  prehistoric  man  and  the 
elaborate  carving  of  every  aboriginal  race  and  call 
it  art.  The  name  is  wrong.  Call  it  decoration. 
Art,  fine  art,  is  a  later  development  in  the  higher 
culture  of  the  senses  and  refinement  of  the  spirit. 
It  deals  not  only  with  the  imitation  of  objects  as 
such,  but  uses  them  as  means  of  stirring  the  emo- 
tions and  teaching  men  to  see  and  love  the  things 
which  make   for  a  nobler   life. 


Until  a  man  paints  with  the  hope  or  with  the  wish 
to  stir  the  minds  of  his  fellows  to  better  thinking 


Technique 

and  their  hearts  to  better  living  or  to  make  some      ^^s  purpose 
creature  happier  or  wiser  he  has  not  understood  the 
meaning  of  art. 

"Pas  de  peluche,  pas  de  peinture" — Carolus  Duran. 

In  the  painting  of  plush  by  this  great  master  we 
find  tlie  richest  and  strongest  cfTects  of  which  paint 
is  capable,  proving  that  he  practiced  what  he 
preached. 


The  sheen  of  plush  in  vivid  contrast  with  its  deep 
and  glowing  shadows,  the  graceful  play  of  light  and 
local  color  over  its  surface,  the  satisfactory  har- 
mony which  is  characteristic  of  the  fabric,  all  unite 
in  rendering  plush  a  most  desirable  object  of  study 
and  as  background  in  portraiture  or  accessory  in 
still  life  its  distinguished  richness  renders  it  oc- 
casionally indispensable. 

A  smear  of  paint  here,  a  dab  there,  a  crisp  out-  Method 
line,  a  touch  of  bright  color  or  an  accent  of  shadow 
yonder,  balancing  masses,  adjusting  tones,  keeping 
the  entire  conception  in  mind  all  the  time  and  not- 
ing the  effect  of  every  touch.  This  is  the  way  to 
plan   a   picture. 

If  you  begin  at  one  end  and  proceed  like  a  car- 
penter driving  nails  into  a  fence  your  work  will 
have  about  the  same  aesthetic  value. 


The  building  of  a  picture 

"Chechez  delibrementt  mais  travaillez  avec  pas- 
sion."  Boulanger's  advice  to   students  at  Julian's. 

The  result  of  the  method  is  rapid  work.  Any  er- 
rors or  shortcomings  in  the  composition  will  be 
discovered  before  much  work  is  done;  consequently 
alterations  are  easily  made  and  no  labor  is  wasted. 

Many  a  good  reputation  has  been  spoiled  by  put- 
oroug  ness         ^j^^^  ^^^^  imperfect  work.     The  necessary  changes  in- 
volved  too   much   work   or   the   painter   lacked   the 
courage  to  paint  out  the  offending  part. 

There  is  a  good  remedy  for  an  unsatisfactory 
picture  which  has  already  cost  much  labor — two 
coats  of  white  lead.  A  clean  canvas  has  more  value 
than   a  bad  picture. 

Time  or  labor,  indeed,  has  little  to  do  with  the 
Time  matter.     A  man  may  work  for  a  week  after  a  cer- 

tain effect  and  fail  to  get  it.  At  another  time,  in 
another  mood  or  with  fresh  insight  he  may  succeed 
in  ten  minutes.  Which  picture,  think  you,  has  the 
greater  value,  the  failure  which  cost  time  and  labor 
or  the  success  due  to  a  happy  accident? 

The  week  of  labor  added  absolutely  no  value  to  the 
picture.  The  successful  tour  de  force,  done  in  a 
short  morning  may  bring  more  joy  to  the  artist  and 
to  the  world  than  would  a  month  of  industrious  but 
uninspired  niggling. 

50 


and  labor 


Technique 


We  may  pile  on  paint  an  inch  thick  and  experi- 
ment and  perspire  from  morn  to  dewy  eve,  through 
weary  v/eeks  and  changing  seasons  but  it  all  counts 
for  nothing  until  the  magical  stroke  is  given  which 
fully  expresses  the  idea.  Whether  that  stroke  comes 
soon  or  late  there  is  no  picture  until  it  does  arrive. 

Moral :  Don't  be  afraid  of  labor.  No  one  can 
work  intelligently  with  brush  and  paint  without 
learning  something.  Therefore  the  labor  is  not 
wasted.  You  have  at  least  learned  what  not  to  do. 
Tt  all  counts  on  the  next  picture. 

A  too  facile  trick  of  the  brush  sometimes  degen- 
erates into  something  very  like  slang  when  a  clever, 
catchy  stroke  or  a  telling  combination  of  colors  is 
used  to  give  effect  to  all  kinds  of  subjects  without 
regard  to  time,  place  or  season. 

Of  the  various  methods  of  laying  on  paint  impasto      Impasto 
is  the  chief  and  in  many  subjects  the  only  available 
way.     Aside  from  its  robust  and  solid  appearance  it 
is  the  only  method   which  is  absolutely  permanent. 
Its  great  body  is  security  against  change. 

Thin  painting  will  often  sink  into  the  ground 
color.  Glazes  are  easily  abraded  or  removed  on  ac- 
count of  their  slightness.  Still  it  is  the  custom  of 
many  painters  to  load  the  lights  heavily  for  the  sake 
of  texture  and  high  light  and  to  paint  shadows  thinly 
and  smoothly  where  texture  is  lost  in  obscurity. 

51 


The  building  of  a  picture 

The  more  modern  way  is  to  paint  heavily 
throughout  with  a  large  and  full  brush,  seeking  after 
light  and  atmosphere  rather  than  richness  and  depth. 

There  is  something  very  satisfying  to  the  eye  in 
the  rich,  fat,  generously  laid  canvas  even  if  nothing 
else  were  gained  by  it. 

Unless  in  the  hands  of  a  skilled  master  a  thinly 
painted  canvas  suggests  meagreness  and  weakness. 
A  Bouguerreau  or  a  Meissonier  may  paint  as  he 
will.    His  genius  is  master  of  his  material. 

Misapplied  With    a    long    haired,    supple   brush    loaded    with 

labor  f'lt  color  and  a  clean,  crisp,  quick  touch,  a  certain 

rich  quality  of  surface  is  developed  which  is  bril- 
liant in  itself.  Dabbling  and  teasing  the  paint  with 
the  brush,  smoothing,  blending '  and  fondling  the 
color  makes  mud  of  the  purest  pigments  while  it 
destroys  every  vestige  of  texture. 

In  a  brilliant  style  of  handling  the  colors  remain 
clean  and  the  touch  crisp.  Delicate  modulations  will 
round  the  surfaces  without  the  need  of  unduly  mix- 
ing colors  together.  When  color  is  thickly  laid  on, 
the  touches  will  blend  insensibly  at  the  edges  ol 
their  own  accord. 

If  laid  on  with  a  long,  flexible  knife  instead  of  a 
brush  the  effect  of  soHdity  with  delicacy  of  color  is 
greatly   enhanced,   but   the   knife    lacks   precision   in 


Technique 


drawing  minute  forms  and  details.    These  are  much 
better  added  with  a  brush. 

The  knife  is  also  a  powerful  tool  in  getting  cer- 
tain rough  textures  like  rocks,  gravel  and  tree 
trunks.  The  abuse  of  impasto  results  in  paintiness 
where  the  paint  by  its  excessive  roughness  becomes 
more  obvious  than  its  intention. 


Glazing  has  a  magical  effect  in  deepening  or 
warming  shadows  or  enriching  colors,  also  in  add- 
ing delicate  tints  and  modifying  gradations  of  color 
already  laid  on  and  perfectly  dry. 


Glazing: 


To  test  the  dryness  of  paint  breathe  on  it.  If  the 
breath  dims  the  surface  evenly  it  is  dry  enough 
lo  work  over. 


Any  transparent  color  will  do  for  glazing  when 
ililuted  with  some  colorless  medium  like  mcgb''^  oil, 
or  retouching  varnish  and  brushed  thinly. 

Scumbling  expresses  air,  smoke,  mist,  dust  and 
the  like  where  these  things  must  be  added  over 
paint  already  dry.  Use  thick  body  color,  driving  it 
very  thinly  with  a  stiff  brush.  These  thin  paintings 
would  better  be  avoided,  however,  when  it  is  pos- 
sible, because  they  are  so  easily  abraded. 

Many  mediums  have  been  invented  for  the  dilu- 
tion of  tube  colors.  They  are  one  and  all  objection- 
able for  one  reason  or  another.  Practice  demon- 
strates that  wherever  pigments  must  be  diluted  the 

53 


Scumbling 


Mediums 


The  building  of  a  picture 


The  mat 

surface 


meek  and  lowly  coal  oil  will  do  the  most  good  and 
the  least  harm.  It  will  not  yellow  with  age  or  dark- 
ness like  the  vegetable  oils.  It  will  not  dry  too  fast 
and  crack  like  varnishes.  It  will  not  dry  mat  like 
turpentine.  It  will  not  dry  sticky  or  crack  like  me- 
gilp, but  it  will  stick  readily  to  any  surface.  It 
works  easily  and  spreads  evenly  and  after  it  has  an- 
swered its  purpose  it  will  evaporate  entirely,  leaving 
the  color  pure. 

For  its  brilliant  atmospheric  quality  the  mat  effect 
is  much  valued  by  some  landscape  painters.  Absorb- 
ent grounds  are  sometimes  used  to  promote  it.  Some- 
times turpentine  is  added  to  the  pigment  after  its 
oil  has  been  removed  by  blotting  paper.  Rapid  and 
repeated  painting  is  sure  to  produce  the  mat  sur- 
face. 


The  chief  fault  of  this  method  is  that  the  dark 
colors  sink  so  that  their  true  values  and  colors  are 
not  seen.  A  little  very  dilute  retouching  varnish 
rubbed  on  with  a  bit  of  rag  or  an  old  brush  will 
reveal  the  color  at  once.  It  should  be  rubbed  on 
thinly.  Varnishes  are  very  likely  to  crack  the  paint 
later  on. 


Varnish  A    still   better   varnish   for   mat  pictures   is   white 

of  egg  beaten  to  a  froth  and  spread  thinly  with  a 
large  brush.  It  brings  out  the  color,  preserves  the 
pigments  from  gas  and  smoke  and  can  be  washed 
off  and  renewed  whenever  the  picture  requires  clean- 
ing. 

54 


Technique 


The  chief  value  of  the  mat  surface  h"es  in  its 
power  of  keeping  its  brilliancy  under  artificial  light. 
A  varnished  picture  will  reflect  more  or  less  all  the 
shadows  in  the  room.  In  an  evening  exhibition  un- 
der gas  or  electric  light  the  mat  picture  has  an 
immeasurable  advantage. 

Some  of  the  more  delicate  and  transparent  tube 
colors  are  very  bad  dryers.  They  may  remain  for 
weeks  on  the  canvas  and  still  smear  with  a  touch  of 
the  hand.  The  smallest  possible  quantity  of  sugar 
of  lead  will  insure  prompt  drying  and  will  not  in- 
jure the  color. 


Drying 


A  great  change  in  manipulation  of  recent  years 
has  led  to  a  revision  of  all  old  methods.  The  new- 
'^<t  school  seems  inclined  to  reject  varnish  entirely 
^  causing  an  injury  to  the  tone  and  durability  of  the 
work.  Especially  do  the  plein-air  and  luminarist 
schools  condemn  it,  for  its  use  destroys  all  the  splen- 
did qualities  gained  by  a  high  key  and  a  mat  surface. 


Paint  the  other  side  of  things.  How  often  we 
find  a  portrait,  for  instance,  swimming  in  its  back- 
ground, like  a  potato  swimming  in  water,  half  in 
and  half  out. 


The  envelope 


The  other  side  may  be  suggested  by  the  touch. 
A  stroke  somewhat  parallel  to  the  outline  of  a 
rounded  surface  will  foreshorten  the  edges  and 
carry  it  round. 


55 


The  building  of  a  picture 

The  management  of  the  cast  shadow  is  also  im- 
portant in  detaching  an  object  from  its  background. 
The  farther  the  shadow  falls  from  the  object  the 
farther  back  will  the  background  appear. 

The  painter's  touch  is  not  a  sweep,  but  a  stroke  or 
The  touch  p^^j-  gf  ^j^g  brush  intended  to  lay  color  on  and  not  to 

remove  it.  First  one  side  of  the  brush  and  then 
the  other,  changing  its  direction  at  every  stroke  and 
rolling  it  round  in  the  fingers  this  way  or  that  to 
give  the  edge  decision  or  softness,  as  the  case  re- 
quires. 

There   are   hundreds   of   little   tricks   of   handling 
Textures  which  are  acquired  in  the  attempt  to  imitate  surfaces. 

The  touch  which  expresses  the  foliage  of  an  oak 
perfectly  will  not  answer  at  all  for  the  foliage  of  an 
eucalyptus  or  a  fig  tree  and  no  foliage  touch  will  in- 
terpret the  texture  of  rough  bark. 

Texture  is  one  of  the  important  factors  of  good 
brushwork.  Every  different  material  shows  a  dif- 
ferent kind  of  surface  which  is  only  rightly  ex- 
pressed by  a  touch  peculiar  to  it.  Hamerton  says  of 
a  certain  figure  painter:  "Everything  in  his  picture 
was  metallic  except  the  armor;  that  was  leathery." 

So  we  see  trees  looking  like  bags  of  potatoes  and 
flesh  like  putty,  rocks  looking  soft  and  transparent 
and  skies  as  solid  as  rocks.  The  development  of  the 
surface  of  things  is  one  of  the  crucial  tests  of 
the   painter's   skill. 

s6 


Technique 


It  has  been  said  that  the  world  of  art  students  is 
divided  between  those  who  swear  by  Bouguereau 
and  those  who  swear  at  him. 


In  truth  there  is  a  deal  of  water  flowing  between 
his  patient  dot  by  dot,  small-sable  execution  and 
the  method  of  Rafaelli,  who  lays  his  whole  canvas 
in  with  soft  cloudy  masses  of  uncertain  color  and 
then  gives  definition  to  contours  and  surfaces  alike 
by  means  of  dark  pen-like  lines. 

And  between  these  extremes  there  is  also  much 
safe  and  sound  texture  painting  by  many  methods, 
and  plenty  of  room  still  left  for  discovery  and  inven- 
tion. 

There  are  plenty  of  intelligent  people  who  cannot      Training 
tell  one  horse  from  another  of  the  same  color.     Com-  ^^®  ^^^ 

paratively  few  people  can  tell  one  sheep  from  an- 
other. Yet  they  have  no  difficulty  in  knowing  one 
human  face  from  another  even  though  the  difference 
is  much  less  than  in  the  case  of  the  sheep. 

Most  people  recognize  a  vertical  line  when  they 
see  it.  Many  people  know  a  right  angle  at  sight. 
Some  know  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees 
but  very  few  know  an  angle  of  thirty  or  fifty 
or  eighty  degrees.  Why?  Because  they  are  not  in 
the  habit  of  comparing  angles,  while  their  well-being 
depends  on  their  habit  of  comparing  faces. 

57 


The  building  of  a  picture 

The  secret  'p^js  jg  ^^^g  whole  secret  of  drawing,  the  habit  of 

o  rawng  comparison.  Comparing  height  with  width,  com- 
paring angles,  values  and  relative  positions.  With 
the  skilled  draughtsman  this  habit  is  practised  uncon- 
sciously. Doubtless  individuals  differ  in  their  apti- 
tude in  acquiring  this  habit,  but  anyone  who  can  tell 
one  face  from  another  can  learn  to  draw. 

Learning  thus  to  distinguish  angles  and  triangles 
is  a  rapid  method  of  learning  to  compare  forms,  that 
is,  learning  to  draw.  There  will  be  comparatively 
little  difficulty  with  the  fingers. 

Value  of  clay  As   generally   used,   the    word    drawing   refers   to 

modeling  outline  only,  but  it  should  be  understood  that  outline 
is  but  a  part  of  all  that  is  included  as  drawing.  It  is 
comparatively  easy  for  the  eye  to  distinguish  bulk 
and  outline.  The  modulation  of  surface  is  another 
and  more  difficult  thing  because  changes  of  plane 
and  direction  are  marked  by  the  most  delicate  grad- 
ations of  shade,  gradations  which  are  often  invisible 
to  the  untrained  eye. 

This  is  why  clay  modeling  is  recommended  for 
students  in  drawing  and  painting.  To  draw  intelli- 
gently it  is  necessary  to  feel  the  plasticity  of  the  sub- 
ject, its  mass  and  projection  in  space. 

Beginners  are  too  apt  to  think  of  their  drawing 
as  a  flat  thing  or  a  flat  surface.  Clay  modelling 
dispels  this  idea  at  once. 

58 


Technique 

A'  careful  drawing  before  beginning  to  paint  is 
imperative  with  the  beginner.  It  is  not  that  the 
point  is  better  than  the  brush  as  a  drawing  instru- 
ment, but  because  the  deliberate  study  necessary 
for  a  good  drawing  gives  a  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  subject.  Without  this  thorough  knowledge 
brilliant  handling  and  true  character  are  impossible. 
Jt 

There    are    five    distinct    difficulties    to    be    over-      The  difficulties 
come  by  the  beginner  in  painting.     Take  them  one 
at  a  time  and  master  them  as  you  go. 

I'irst  draw  patterns  or  figures  in  outline.  The 
models  may  be  either  flat  or  solid  but  proportions 
must  be  determined  by  the  eye  alone. 

Next  modulation  of  surfaces  or  shading  follows. 
Plaster  makes  the  best  model  because  it  has  no 
gradation  of  local  color  to  confuse  the  shading. 

Painting  may  begin  as  soon  as  the  ability  has 
been  acquired  to  make  a  correct  drawing  quickly. 
Learn  to  lay  a  flat  tone  accurately. 

The  fourth  point  is  to  make  a  perfect  gradation  of 
color. 

Lastly  learn  to  grade  color  and  shade  at  the 
same  time.  It  is  in  this  stage  that  the  hundreds 
of  little  tricks  of  brush  and  fingers  are  acquired 
upon  which  good  technique  depends. 

59 


The  building  of  a  picture 

This  is  the  ideal  way.  Most  beginners  take  all 
these  five  difficulties  at  once  and  after  floundering 
helplessly  for  awhile  give  it  up — or  go  back  and 
begin  right — more  or  less.  You  will  probably  do 
the  same. 


Analysis    of 

the  subject 


Painting 

the  air 


It  is  important  to  know  what  to  look  for.  Almost 
every  familiar  surface  may  be  formulated  in  a  way 
which  will  render  its  study  easier.  For  instance, 
near  foliage  in  sunshine  will  always  present  at  least 
four  important  characteristic  components  of  its 
color.  The  local  color  may  be  found  strongest  in 
the  dark  or  in  the  light  but  the  upper  surfaces  of 
leaves  always  reflect  more  or  less  of  the  grey  or 
blue  of  the  sky.  The  most  brilliant  points  of  color 
will  be  found  in  the  transmitted  lights  where  the 
sun  shines  through  the  leaf.  The  dark  side  of  the 
mass  for  these  reasons  will  always  be  greyer  than 
the  light.  The  accent  of  deep  tree  shadows  is  al- 
most invariably  warm. 

The  air  is  always  visible.  There  is  a  subcon- 
scious perception  of  it  though  the  eye  does  not  al- 
ways take  note  of  it.  Envelop  your  subject  in  air 
no  matter  how  near  it  may  be  or  in  what  light. 
The  envelope  is  an  essential  quality  of  light  and 
color. 


On   a    foggy    day    the   mist   envelope   is   very    ob- 
vious.    All  objects  are  seen  more  or  less  veiled,  the 
more  distant  becoming  more  and  more  obscured  un- 
60 


Technique 


;til  they  are  finally  hidden.  The  difference  in  mist 
values  is  very  apparent  between  an  object  ten  feet 
away  and  another  ten  yards  away. 


requires  a  little 
represent  these 
nicely  balanced 


To  sec  the  air  in  the  same  way 
more    delicate    perception    and    to 
infinitessimal   differences  requires  a 
judgment  and  careful  manipulation. 

Shadows  arc  more  sensitive  to  this  air  envelope 
than  arc  the  lights.  Thus  the  toning  of  the  darks 
(if  a  picture,  giving  them  more  and  more  grey  or 
blue  as  they  recede,  will  always  render  a  satisfactory 
perspective  to  the  eye. 


Aerial 

perspective 


The  chief  quality  of  a  clear  sky  is  its  translucency 
and  this  is  exactly  the  most  difficult  of  all  quaHtes 
to  reproduce. 

We  can  make  a  flat  tint  look  a  very  long  way  off, 
pushing  it  back  by  means  of  the  horizon,  but  a 
Hat  tint  is  always  a  flat  surface  and  the  sky  has  no 
surface  but  infinite  depth.  A  fleeting  cloudlet  will 
push  it  back  still  further,  but  it  will  be  a  wall  when- 
ever you  come  to  it. 


Translucency 
of  skies 


A  clouded  or  mottled  sky  is  easier  to  manage  be- 
cause its  members  are  seen  to  be  beyond  each  other, 
suggesting  various  planes  of  distance,  and  if  the  blue 
is  of  small  surface  the  imagination  easily  makes 
the  leap  as  into  a  limitless  vault. 

6x 


The  building  of  a  picture 

The  clearest  sky  is  full  of  gradation  from  the 
grey  of  the  horizon  to  the  blue  of  the  zenith.  To 
this  is  added  the  faint  mottling  of  suspended  vapor, 
a  tenuous,  impalpable  veil  of  shifting,  shimmering 
light,  invisible  to  any  but  the  practiced  eye. 

Most  painters  lay  in  a  soft  rosy  grey  over  the  up- 
per sky  and  into  this  the  blue  is  touched  with  a 
delicacy  which  is  true  according  to  its  refinement. 
Sometimes  the  reverse  course  is  followed,  the  blue 
being  laid  on  first.  Whatever  method  is  adopted 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  essential  quality  of 
a  clear  sky  is  its  translucency. 

No  one  but  an  experienced  painter  can  realize  the 
beauty  and  the  wealth  of  color  to  be  seen  in  a  cloudy 
sky. 

Sunlit  clouds  are  usually  tinged  with  rose  or 
orange  in  the  light,  grading  to  cool  grey  in  the 
shadows,  coolness  and  darkness  varying  according 
to  the  density  or  depth  of  the  cloud.  Into  this 
grey  the  warm  hght  penetrates  with  infinite  grada- 
tions. In  the  greyest  and  gloomiest  skies,  when  it 
is  not  actually  raining,  we  find  these  beautiful  gra- 
dations of  warm  light  and  cold  shadow  modified  by 
endless  accidents  of  reflection  and  contrast. 

Movement  in  ^'''^  ^^  ^^^^  loveliest  manifestations  of  the  poetry 

cloud  drawing      of  motion  is  the  rising  of  wood  smoke  on  a  moder- 
ately  calm   day.      Neither   pen   nor   paint   can   ade- 
62 


Technique 


quately  describe  the  swaving,  sinuous,  curling,  ca- 
pricious grace  of  its  movements  and  its  infinite  va- 
riety of  beautiful  form  and  color. 

Clouds,  too,  have  something  of  the  same  grace  of 
form  and  movement,  but  to  this  is  added  the  im- 
pressiveness  of  space,  the  majesty  of  enormous 
mass. 

To  beauty  of  form  and  color  and  motion  we  must 
add  also  semi-transparency  and  lightness.  A  painted 
cloud  which  docs  not  seem  to  float  of  its  own  buoy- 
ancy looks  dangerous.  Its  weight  is  a  menace  to 
the  rest  of  the  landscape. 

The  secret  is  all  in  the  intermingling  of  tones,  an 
interpenetration  of  mist  and  air  and  light  which  in- 
terprets its  translucency. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  reading  of  a  industry 
book,  no  matter  how  exhaustive,  or  the  listening  to 
a  course  of  lectures,  no  matter  how  lucid,  will  ever 
give  the  ability  to  paint  well.  Good  painting  is  the 
result  of  dexterity  of  hand,  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  pigments  and  the  essential  qualities  of  objects. 

These  things  can  only  be  acquired  by  practice, 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  experiments  in  light, 
color  and  touch,  the  effect  of  brush  on  paint,  of 
tints  and  pigments  on  one  another. 

63 


The  building  of  a  picture 

The  story  is  never  fully  told,  and  the  power  of 

paint  or  pen  can  never  express  entirely  the  glory  or 

the   strength   of   the   conception   which   impelled   it. 

The  best  is  still   withheld,   inexpressible  in  human 

terms. 

J« 

Our  best  songs  are  still  unsung;  our  best  thoughts 

are  still   unuttered   and   must  so   remain  until   eyes 

and    ears    and    hands    are    quickened    by    a    diviner 

life  to  a  keener  sensibility. 

Much  of  the  bad  techinque  we  ridicule  is  in  reality 
only  a  pathetic  impulse  of  the  voiceless  to  utter  the 
joy  of  beauty  which  clamors  for  expression,  the 
wordless  and  tuneless  songs  which,  big  with  emo- 
tion, swell  the  mute  heart  almost  to  bursting. 


COMPOSITION 


I  ERE  is  no  surer  sign  of  the  decadence  of 
art  than  the  search  after  formulae,  striv- 
ing to  lay  down  rules  in  imitation  of  the 
methods  of  the  past,  as  if  discovery  were 
dead. 

The  modern  renaissance  of  art  was 
simultaneous  with  its  emancipation  from  tradition. 
Almost  every  rule  and  dogma  of  the  old  painters 
finds  refutation  in  some  splendid  recent  canvas. 


Conventionality 


It  is  no  longer  safe  to  lay  down  rules  of  compo- 
sition. Some  mannerless  fellow  is  sure  to  prove 
their  futility  tomorrow.  The  best  we  can  do  is  to 
make  some  suggestions  showing  how  others  have 
succeeded,  which  will  at  least  be  helpful  for  a  be- 
ginning. 


The  building  of  a  picture 

When  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  stated  in  one  of  his 
Royal  Academy  lectures  that  blue  could  not  be  used 
with  good  effect  except  in  small  masses  Gainsbor- 
ough immediately  painted  his  famous  "Blue  Boy," 
a  picture  which  is  all  blue — one  of  the  most  splen- 
did things  of  its  day. 

Sir  Joshua's  explanation  was  "The  'Blue  Boy' 
does  not  disprove  the  rule;  it  only  proves  how  great 
a  painter  is  Gainsborough  who  can  afford  to  ignore 
rules." 

There  are,  in  fact,  men  great  enough  to  override 
all  the  theories  ever  expounded  and  plenty  of  men 
who  seek  to  prove  their  greatness  by  breaking  all 
the  rules  they  ever  heard  of. 

Nevertheless    there   are    certain    arrangements    of 

light,  lines  and  color  which  all  men  accept  as  good. 
Some  accepted  >^     >  *-  o 

principles  ^^^  Greek  honeysuckle  ornament  has  delighted  the 
eyes  of  men  for  twenty-five  centuries.  The  eye  and 
mind  accept  it  at  once  as  a  pleasing  arrangement  of 
lines.  A  simple  transposition  of  its  details  proves 
at  once  that  the  beauty  lies  not  in  the  lines  them- 
selves, but  in  their  arrangement. 

It  is  useless  to  ask  why.  Beauty  is  an  arbitrary 
thing  defying  reason.  We  only  know  that  certain 
combinations  of  lines,  masses,  shades,  lights  or  colors 
will  please  the  majoritv  of  eyes,  while  other  arrange- 
ments of  the  same  things  are  unanimously  rejected. 

66 


Composition 


Allowing  for  the  proverbial  exception  which  proves 
the  rule  any  work  of  good  chiaroscuro  will  present 
several  distinct  points  of  interest. 

It  will  have  a  mass  of  light  half-tones  of  which 
some  point,  called  the  high  lieht.  will  be  lighter  than 
anything  else  in  the  picture.  It  will  have  a  mass 
of  dark  half-tones  of  which  some  point  called  the 
accent  will  be  darker  than  all  the  rest.  If  the  com- 
position has  any  complication  at  all  the  principal 
light  will  have  an  echo  in  a  subordinate  light  of 
smaller  area  and  lower  key.  The  main  shadow  will 
also  have  its  echo  and  all  the  masses  will  be  full  of 
gradation,   no   absolutely  flat  tone   anyhere. 


Analysis 
of  Ught 
modulation 


Intense  concentration  of  the  sight  on  any  detail 
gives  it  for  the  moment  an  exaggerated  importance. 
When  every  detail  of  a  composition  passes  succes- 
sively under  this  "searching"  process  the  resulting 
picture  is  an  agglomeration  of  units,  each  clamor- 
ing to  be  seen  first. 

Seek  rather  to  make  the  entire  picture  a  single 
unit  subordinating  every  detail  to  the  general  con- 
ception according  to  its  relative  importance.  Most 
young  eyes  see  too  much.     Try  more  for  breadth. 


Breadth 

and  detail 


In  nature  there  is  such  an  intimate  mingling  of 
shadows  and  reflexes  that  objects  have  the  appear- 
ance of  merging  into  each  other  by  their  edges.  A 
hard  edge  is  always  offensive.     It  can  only  be  ex- 

67 


The  building  of  a  picture 

cused  when  its  purpose  is  to  force  an  object  forward 
or  bring  it  into  special  relief. 

A  good  easel  picture  has  the  qualities  of  a  good 
short  story.  Its  plan  is  simple.  It  tells  its  tale 
without  unnecessary  detail.  Its  incidents  are  clear 
cut  and  well  relieved.  Its  local  color  true  and  char- 
acteristic and  its  language  of  the  best. 

The  most  exquisite  outline  or  the  most  subtle 
modulation  of  form  is  utterly  without  value  if  it  is 
lost  in  its  surroundings.  The  use  of  relief  is  a  thing 
to  be  considered  with  tho  greatest  care  lest  it  become 
an  abuse  and  the  composition  be  shattered  to  frag- 
ments by  making  everything  equally  emphatic. 

The  thing  best  worth  painting  in  the  picture  should 
be  so  contrasted  and  relieved  by  its  surroundings 
that  it  will  be  the  first  thing  to  attract  the  eye  with 
the  accent  placed  where  it  will  be  most  effective,  as 
the  picturesque  branching  of  a  tree,  the  head  of  a  fig- 
ure or  some  important  part  of  its  outline  or  mass. 
Everything  else  is  accessory,  each  incident  tak- 
ing just  so  much  relief  as  its  importance  requires  and 
no  more.  When  everything  in  the  picture  is  equally 
prominent  it  becomes  unintelligible  like  a  roomful  of 
women  all  talking  at  once. 

"Cave  on  Colour"  is  an  old  book  on  water  color 
painting.     Among  other  good  things  it  recommends 

68 


Composition 

laying  in  all  the  shadows  with  a  wash  of  black 
before  using  color  at  all.  The  method  is  com- 
mended because  it  insures  transparency  of  shadows 
with  breadth  and  simplicity  of  composition,  which 
amply  compensates  for  the  slight  loss  of  color. 

The  theme  of  a  picture  is  the  melody  to  which 
its  surroundings  form  a  harmony,  subordinate  but 
adding    force   and   beauty. 


A  picture  is  meant  to  be  enjoyed.  It  should  be 
equally  pleasing  at  any  distance  within  the  limits  of 
the  room  where  it  hangs.  Its  carrying  quality  de- 
pends on  its  relief.  If  that  is  right  it  will  look 
well  and  tell  at  least  the  outline  of  its  story  where- 
ever  it  can  be  seen. 


The  purpose 
of  a  picture 


Few  painters  have  the  power  to  preserve  breadth 
and  carrying  quality  and  at  the  same  time  give  the 
work  a  minute  and  elaborate  finish.  If  anything  must 
be  sacrificed  let  it  be  the  finish. 


Breadth 

and  finish 


Variety  is  the  essential  quality  of  picturesqueness. 
Symmetry,  the  chief  beauty  of  conventional  deco- 
ration, has  no  place  in  fine  art. 


In  posing  a  composition  of  flowers  or  other  simi- 
lar objects  they  are  continually  falling  into  lines, 
circles,  triangles  and  other  geometrical  figures.  They 
never  look  picturesque  until  we  get  every  suspicion 
of  symmetry  out  of  them.    In  a  study  of  animals  we 

69 


Symmetry 

and  variety 


The  building  of  a  picture 

aim  to  get  variety  of  pose,  of  groupings  of  values 
and  colors.  The  greater  their  variety  the  more  life 
and  character  will  the  picture  possess. 

So  in  landscape.  A'  dozen  trees  may  look  alike 
at  the  first  glance.  Careful  seeking  will  show  one 
a  little  taller,  another  a  little  greyer,  another  a  little 
darker  than  the  rest.  When  these  differences  are 
accented  three  results  a  pleasing  variety  which  gives 
character  to  the  individual  and  to  the  whole  work. 

The  characteristic  quality  of  any  object,  whatever 
it  may  be,  is  the  point  to  be  insisted  on  and  accented 


PIcturesqueness 


If  a  pond  or  a  tree  or  a  mountain  were  placed 
exactly  in  the  middle  of  a  picture  it  would  apear 
to  divide  the  composition  into  halves  with  a  sugges- 
tion of  symmetry  and  a  failure  of  variety.  Parallel 
or  concentric  lines  too  have  a  geometric  formality 
which  is  unpicturesque.  It  is  the  business  of  the 
painter  to  so  choose  his  point  of  view  or  arrange  his 
models  that  picturesqueness  may  not  be   sacrificed. 

The  element  of  picturesqueness  depends  largely 
on  variety  and  irregularity  for  its  charm.  A  sky  line 
broken  by  mountains  or  buildings,  towers,  domes, 
spires,  trees,  anything  indeed  which  will  give  va- 
riety of  bulk,  shape  and  outline,  somehow  add  to 
the  gratification  of  the  beholder.  A  row  of  domes 
or  spires  or  trees  exactly  alike  would  excite  no 
such  pleasure.  Variety  is  the  essential  quality. 
70 


Composition 

One  of  the  most  powerful  means  of  appeal  to  the 
imagination  is  contrast.  The  opposition  of  a  dark 
against  a  light  thing  is  obvious  as  a  means  of  relief, 
so  is  the  contrast  of  complimentary  colors  in  search- 
ing for  harmony. 


There  is  a  subtler  source  of  power  in  the  con- 
trasting of  things  having  dissimilar  physical  qualities 
as,  for  instance,  the  fairy  tracery  of  birch  branches 
against  a  distant  mountain,  the  firm  level  line  of  a 
distant  bay  shore  in  contrast  with  the  undulating 
contour  of  rugged  mountains  behind  it,  the  spider 
web  lines  of  shipping  seen  against  massive  cumulus 
clouds  or  a  low  barred  sky  seen  through  tall  tree 
stems. 


Contrast 
of  line 
and  mass 


THE      SKETCH 


enmity 
certain 
other  schools 


N  THE  world  of  art  the  lines  of  cleavage 
run  in  so  many  directions  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  conceive  it  as  a  homogeneous 
entity  or  to  divide  it  into  a  few  well  defined 
groups. 

Certain  schools  may  differ  with  a  mortal 
and  yet  find  many  points  of  agreement  on 
principles   which  are  wholly  denied  by  still 


Schools 

of  painting: 


It  is  safe  to  say,  however,  that  in  the  study  of 
nature,  landscape  artists  are  definitely  divided  into 
two  camps,  working  on  diametrically  opposed  lines. 


Sit    down    before    the    choicest    bit    of    scenery 
within  your  reach.     Simply  sit  and  look  and  enjoy 

73 


Memory 
and  facts 


The  building  of  a  picture 

it  for  awhile.  Next  day  put  down  your  memory  of 
it  with  pen  or  brush.  The  picture  will  be  somewhat 
vague  of  outline  and  sadly  lacking  in  detail  but  it 
will  be  sure  to  have  the  warmth  of  the  sunshine, 
the  tender  grey  of  the  mountains,  the  fathomless 
depth  of  the  mottled  sky,  the  infinite  flash  and  spar- 
kle of  color  and  light  on  rock  and  leaf  and  stem 
because  these  are  the  things  which  will  impress  you. 

Now  observe  how  a  young  beginner  proceeds  in 
painting  his  picture  on  the  spot.  He  does  not  ask 
himself  what  he  most  enjoys  in  the  scene,, but  only 
what  he  sees.  The  most  prominent  object  may  be  a 
fence.  In  it  goes,  just  the  right  number  of  rails 
and  probably  the  right  number  of  nails.  Another 
fact  is  a  house.  In  it  goes,  windows  and  doors^ 
panes  and  panels,  chimneys  and  clapboards.  Next 
come  the  trees  and  their  leaves,  each  in  its  proper 
place;  weeds,  grasses,  ferns,  clouds  and  mountains, 
everything   in   its    local    color. 

Everything  the  eye  can  see  is  too  important  to  be 
neglected. 

When  it  is  all  finished  she  may  weep  over  it. 
If  it  be  he,  the  palette  knife  will  make  an  end  of  it, 
for  with  all  these  facts — these  truths  of  nature — 
studied  on  the  spot — the  thing  does  not  resemble 
anything  but  an  auctioneer's  inventory. 

The  charm  Without   the    distraction    of   the   canvas    and    the 

of  it  all  matter-of-fact  mood,  the  student  would  have  felt 
that  the  facts  he  understood  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  charm  of  the  scene. 

74 


The  sketch 

These  two  persons,  the  dreamer  and  the  digger, 
represent  the  two  divisions  of  workers  into  which 
the  world  is  divided. 

The  dreamers,  the  poet  painters,  the  transcend- 
entalists,  despise  the  paint  box  and  sketching  easel 
as  insignia  of  imbecile  industry.  They  go  off  alone 
or  by  twos  or  threes  equipped  with  nothing  more 
than  a  pocket  notebook  and  a  bundle  of  cigarettes. 


They  wander  about  in  the  cool  of  the  morning 
and  the  dusk  of  the  evening  or  it  may  be  in  the 
blaze  of  noon  or  the  tranquil  shade  of  a  grey  day. 
A  pencil  note  of  color  effect  here,  an  outline  of  a 
dozen  strokes  there,  a  gnarled  tree  or  a  picturesque 
roof,  a  calf  or  an  old  gate. 


Collecting 

material 


The  hour  or  the  day  comes  when  the  painter 
stands  in  the  presence  of  his  inspiration,  the  thing 
worth  painting.  He  makes  himself  comfortable. 
He  sits  and  smokes  and  dreams  and  looks.  There 
he  will  go  every  day  while  sun  and  weather  are 
right.  He  sits  and  dreams  and  looks  until  he  is 
steeped  in  the  theme^  penetrated  through  and 
through.     It   is    forevermore   his   possession. 

Next  day  the  place  that  knew  him  so  long  will  miss 
him.  He  is  painting.  He  paints  with  passion.  His 
pulses  leap  with  the  creative  instinct.  His  soul  is 
brimming  over  with  the  poetry,  the  music  of  it,  the 
sweetness,  the  harmony,  the  emotion  of  his  theme. 

75 


Saturation 


Inspiration 


The  building  of  a  picture 

With  strong  quick  strokes  the  glowing  tints  are  laid 
side  by  side. 

Realization  With   consummate  judgment  tone  and   value  and 

texture  are  fitted  and  balanced.  Fingers,  handles, 
knife  or  brushes  are  used  as  the  impulse  of  the  mo- 
ment directs.  His  gladness  of  spirit  is  as  the  joy 
of  the  gods.  It  is  the  day  of  his  inspiration  and  the 
best  that  is  in  him  will  appear  on  his  canvas. 

<^ 

Next  day  when  the  paint  is  cold  and  the  original 
impulse  spent,  when  the  glamour  of  inspiration  no 
longer  deceives  the  eyes  the  picture  max  seem  to 
him  a  grey  and  lifeless  thing  but  it  is  the  best  he 
has  in  him. 


Is  there  any  need  of  the  contrast?  The  picture 
begun  in  the  violet  dawn  and  continued  at  yellow 
noon,  painted  at  day  by  dav  through  changing 
weather  and  changing  moods  of  spirit,  painted  for 
truth's  sake  and  missing  truth  altogether  through 
superabundance  of  material,  commenced  with  a  chill 
and   finished   with  a   cramp. 


After  all,  it  is  only  a  question  of  temperament,  this 
selecting  of  the  higher  or  lower  truth,  this  painting 
objectively  or  subjectively,  synthetically  or  analy- 
ticaly. 

76 


The  sketch 


A  mechanical  piano  may  play  with  absolute  cor- 
rectness but  it  has  no  emotion,  no  passion.  We 
would  prefer  a  jewsharp  if  it  be  only  played  with 
feeling. 


It  is  the  element  of  human  emotion  in  a  picture 
which   makes   it   thrill. 


In  sitting  down  before  nature  to  paint  ask  your- 
self ''What  is  it  that  impresses  me  and  makes  this 
scene  worth  painting?  Is  it  in  the  play  of  light 
and  shadow,  in  the  harmony  of  tones,  grace  of  line, 
or  is  it  in  the  number,  shape  and  construction  of  its 
details?  How  shall  I  paint  it  to  impress  others?" 
These  questions  may  be  hard  to  answer  at  first 
but  it  is  not  worth  while  to  go  on  until  a  correct 
solution  is  reached. 


Planning: 
the  sketch 


Landscape  painting  must  always  be  largely  a  ques- 
tion of  memory.  The  glare  of  excessive  light  out- 
doors and  the  strong  reflexes  cast  on  wet  paint  by 
trees,  sky  and  earth  render  it  impossible  to  get  the 
delicate  gradations  of  nature,  not  to  mention  the 
discomfort  of  dust  and  flies  and  wind,  sometimes 
cold  and  damp,  always  the  changing  light  and  color 
of  nature.  The  work  must  of  necessity  receive  more 
or  less  of  finish  indoors.  Still  the  training  of  the 
memory  to  do  good  work  requires  long  and  labori- 
ous experiment  in  the  presence  of  nature.  An  ade- 
quate knowledge  of  nature  is  only  to  be  acquired 
by  living  with  her  and  questioning  her  incessantly. 

77 


The 


hindrances 


The  building  of  a  picture 

Composition  In  choosing  what  to  paint  an  innate  sense  of  pro- 

portion, of  picturesqueness  and  of  fitness  is  the  best 
guide.  We  find  few  landscapes  ready  made.  There 
is  always  something  to  be  modified,  transposed  or 
left  out,  especially  the  latter.  Sometimes  an  im- 
pressive scene  would  be  better  made  into  several 
pictures;  again  the  picturesque  elements  may  be 
selected  and  everything  else  left  out. 

In  a  sketch  perfect  liberty  is  permitted  as  to 
fidelity  to  form  and  grouping,  provided  that  no  law 
of  nature  or  probability  is  broken.  Ideality  should 
be  held  of  more  value  than  actual  portraiture,  yet 
there  are  occasional  compositions  found  in  nature 
which  are  perfect — ^altogether  beyond  any  improve- 
ment. 


Tonal 


qualities 


A  sketch  begun  in  the  morning  should  not  be 
worked  on  in  the  afternoon.  The  appearance  of 
things  changes  so  much  from  hour  to  hour  in  light, 
color  and  atmosphere  that  it  becomes  practically 
a  new  theme. 

In  the  morning  while  the  sun  is  low,  shadows  are 
large  and  dense,  while  tones  are  cool.  At  noon 
the  sun  penetrates  everything  and  relief  is  destroyed. 
This  is  not  a  good  time  to  paint.  In  the  evening 
when  the  sun  is  low  again,  things  take  on  form  and 
become  paintable,  but  instead  of  the  grey  mist  of 
morning  the  air  is  filled  with  a  golden  haze, 

78 


The  spirit  of 


The  sketch 

The  essential  quality  of  landscape  painting  is  at- 
mosphere. To  paint  landscape  well  is  to  paint  mist 
and  dust  and  cloud  shadows  in  the  air,  the  shim- 
mer of  summer  heat,  the  translucent  stillness  of 
black  frost,  the  subtle  veilings  of  the  grey  morning, 
the  smoking   spume  of  the  driving  storm. 

The  subject  of  the  picture  is  of  less  importance. 
The  scene  which  stirs  your  heart  today,  under  the  "the  time 

warm  glow   of  some   unusual   light  or  cloud  effect, 
you  may  find  meaningless  tomorrow. 

S 
It  is  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  which  makes  or 
mars  the  picture.  It  may  have  one  tree  or  more, 
three  cows  or  a  dozen,  a  horse,  a  mountain,  a  pig 
or  a  wheelbarrow,  but  if  it  be  not  enveloped  within 
a  veil  of  glorified  air  it  is  vanity. 

Time  was  when  we  were  instructed  that  each 
mass  must  occupy  a  certain  proportion  of  space  but 
we  have  happily  forgotten  that  teaching  now.  A 
simple  plan  of  light  and  shade  will  be  found  to  be- 
stow a  certain  breadth  of  effect  and  concentration 
of  force  which  is  both  strong  and  pleasing. 

The  plan  of  a  love  song  would  scarcely  meet  the 
requirements  of  an  anthem;  still  less  would  it  fit 
the  elaboration  of  an  opera.  A  picture  may  be 
nothing  more  than  a  simple  sonnet,  it  may  rise  to  the 
beauty  of  a  poem  or  even  to  the  grandeur  of  an  epic. 

79 


Old  formulae 


Evolution  of 
personal 
manner 


The  building  of  a  picture 

A  composition  must  have  a  plan  fitting  to  the 
dignity  of  its  subject. 

Whether  we  make  a  third  or  a  fifth  of  the  picture 
shadow,  or  even  if  we  dispense  with  shadow  alto- 
gether, we  are  free  so  long  as  the  story  is  well  told 
and  the  eye  is  gratified.  There  is  no  discredit  due 
the  song  because  it  is  not  an  epic.  We  only  insist 
that  it  shall  be  a  good  song. 

Any  conventional  treatment  of  chiaroscuro  should 
be  regarded  only  as  a  temporary  expedient.  Every 
young  artist  will  base  his  method  on  the  work  of 
some  master,  perhaps  many  masters  in  succession. 
Gradually  his  own  individuality  begins  to  emerge 
and  he  adopts  a  manner  of  his  own. 
.': 

Every  man  has  his  own  ideal  or  personal  conven- 
tion in  composition  by  which  he  selects  his  subject  or 
into  which  he  makes  his  subject  fit. 
S 

This  convention  is  really  the  thing  by  which  an 
artist  is  known,  the  personal  quality  in  the  picture 
which  declares  it  to  be  the  work  of  Brown,  Smith 
or  Jones. 


It  is  the  special  arrangement  of  line,  color,  light 
or  mass  which  for  him  is  the  only  way  to  express 
the  force,  the  delicacy,  the  beauty,  the  vividness  or 
the  glory  which  appeals  to  him  as  the  thing  best 
worth  expressing. 


The  sketch 

A  painter  of  narrow  limitations  will  have  a  nar- 
row convention.  He  is  like  a  shore  bird  repeat- 
ing forever  a  single  note.  It  may  be  a  very  sweet 
note,  but   it  is  all  he  has. 


In  a  collection  of  two  hundred  pictures  by  many 
artists  it  is  rarely  that  the  work  of  one  man  can  be 
mistaken  for  that  of  another  by  a  connoisseur. 


Ten  artists  sketching  the  same  subject  will  pro- 
duce ten  totally  different  conceptions  of  it.  Not 
one  of  them  but  has  some  characteristic  quality, 
the  sign  manual  of  the  artist. 


The  personal 
sign 


In  great  exhibitions  like  the  Royal  Academy  or 
the  Salon  all  the  pictures  can  be  grouped  into  a 
few  sections  according  to  their  conventions.  It  will 
be  found  that  a  few  great  masters  of  pronounced 
originality  have  developed  .styles  or  conventions  of 
their  own.  Nearly  all  the  rest  are  more  or 
less  frank  imitations  of  these  conventions,  each 
painter  being  led  by  his  personal  perceptions  to 
follow  one  or  another,  and  yet  each  will  have  some 
peculiarity  of  manner,  which,  if  he  be  strong  and 
original  himself,  will  some  day  develop  into  a  style. 


A  good  theoretical  knowledge  of  art  may  be  ob- 
tained from  books  plus  a  familiarity  with  good 
pictures  but  no  critic  is  able  to  judge  truly  of  the 
merits  of  a  picture  without  a  practical  experience 

8i 


Need  of 
practical 
experience 


The  magic  of 
knowing  how 


The  building  of  a  picture 

with  paint.  What  seems  easy  and  a  matter  of 
course  in  the  finished  work  may  be  in  fact  a  tre- 
mendous triumph  of  skill  over  difficulties  and  per 
contra,  the  lurid  and  catchy  effect  may  be  the  re- 
sult of  some  simple  commonplace  trick  of  the  studio, 

A  study  which  seems  hopelessly  weak  can  be  made 
to  glow  and  sparkle  by  means  of  a  few  judicious 
strokes  of  accent.  An  edge  here,  a  dot  of  color 
there,  a  point  of  shadow  or  a  high  light  else- 
where. It  blooms  out  like  the  unfolding  of  a  morn- 
ing glory. 


An  overworked  sketch  which  has  run  to  mud  can 
be  cleared  up  by  a  few  careful  touches  of  pure  color 
placed  just  where  they  will  give  the  local  keynote  to 
each  mass. 


Accent 


Too  much  value  cannot  be  placed  on  accent.  It 
is  the  concentration  of  light  or  color  in  small  points 
which  give  spirit  and  value  and  express  relief  and 
contrast.     Every  mass  has  its  accent  somewhere. 


"Papillonage"  is  an  expressive  French  term  for 
which  there  is  no  English  equivalent.  Many  de- 
tached lights  and  spots  of  bright  color  or  shadow 
suggest  the  restless,  flicking  movement  of  a  butter- 
fly; hence  the  name.  The  result  is  a  certain  disloca- 
tion of  composition  which  takes  it  out  of  the  realm 
of  fine  art  and  puts  it  over  on  the  side  of  decora- 
tion— provided,  of  course,  that  it  is  otherwise  good. 
8a 


The  sketch 

"Cherchez,  cherchez,  toujours." 
Jt 

Eyes  have  been  ruined,  pecks  of  them,  not  to 
speak  of  the  acres  of  canvas,  by  this  mischievQUS, 
unqualified   formula. 

That  excessive  elaboration  of  surface  called  "fin-  Finish 
ish"  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Philistine  and  once 
held  in  toleration  even  by  some  artists  has  now 
almost  passed  out.  It  is  the  enemy  of  so  many  more 
important  qualities,  so  inconsistent  with  spirituality, 
breadth,  grandeur,  atmosphere  and  so  on  that  art- 
ists  sacrifice   it   without   ruth. 

It  so  happens  that  these  highest  qualities  are  the 
very  ones  which  are  most  difficult  to  understand  by 
the  uncultured  many,  while  minute  detail  is  plain 
to  even  the  lowest  intelligence. 

This  fact  is  not  likely  to  influence  artists  to  their 
hurt  so  long  as  "art  is  for  art's  sake"  and  the  art- 
ist's judgment  must  always  be  the  final  word,  but 
beginners  may  be  sometimes  bewildered  between 
the  applause  of  the  untaught  and  the  dictum  of 
the  teacher. 

"And  when  the  evening  mist  clothes  the  river- 
side with  poetry,  as  with  a  veil,  and  the  poor  build- 
ings lose  themselves  in  the  dim  sky,  and  the  tall 
chimneys   become   campaniles,    and   the   warehouses 

83 


The  building  of  a  picture 

are  palaces  in  the  night,  and  the  whole  city  hangs 
in  the  heavens,  and  fairyland  is  before  us — then 
the  wayfarer  hastens  home;  the  working  man  and 
the  cultured  one,  the  wise  man  and  the  one  of  pleas- 
ure, cease  to  understand  as  they  have  ceased  to  see, 
and  Nature,  who,  for  once,  has  sung  in  tune,  sings 
her  exquisite  song  to  the  artist  alone,  her  son  and 
her  master,  her  son  in  that  he  loves  her,  her  master 
in   that   he   knows   her." — Whistler. 

^^   ,       ,  When  the  heart  is  full  of  the  gladness  of  art  the 

The  impulse  ,         ,      ,  .  ,     .  .  ,      . 

to  paint         eager  hands  hasten  with  nnpatient  desire  to  impart 

it  to  the  world,  but  the  most  successful  effort  of  the 

highest  inspiration  always  falls  short  of  the  fullness 

of  the  message. 

The  placid  perseverance  of  methodical  industry 
has  no  more  art  or  inspiration  in  it  than  the  turn- 
ing of  a  grindstone. 

Lovely  color  and  graceful  outline  and  clever  tex- 
ture are  good  things,  but  we  need  more,  much 
more  for  the  making  of  a  real  picture.  When  /he 
soul  is  brimming  with  an  overflowing  bounty  of 
beauty,  all  means  are  inadequate  to  express  the  full- 
ness of  its  splendor.  Man  has  not  yet  come  to  his 
full  heritage,  but  every  new  mode  of  expression  is 
an  added  language  which  brings  him  a  little  nearer 
to   it. 

84 


The  sketch 

"Industry  in  art  is  a  necessity,  not  a  virtue— and 
any  evidence  of  the  same,  in  the  production,  is  a 
blemish,  not  a  quality." 

"The  completed  task  of  perseverance  only,  has 
never  been  begun,  and  will  remain  unfinished  to 
eternity— a  monument  of  good  will  and  foolishness." 
—Whistler. 

In  the  painting  of  a  tree,  its  bulk,  its  projection      The  great 
in   space,   its  envelope  of  atmosphere,  the  grace  of  qualities 

its  movement,  the  majesty  of  its  mass — these  are 
the  qualities  which  impress  us.  All  the  petty  ama- 
teurish niggling  with  leaf  and  twiglet  which  delights 
the  great  unlearned  adds  not  one  iota  of  value,  but 
may  sweep  out  of  existence  all  the  real  beauties 
which  make  the  thing  a  joy  forever. 
^^ 

If  the  subject  be  a  rose,  a  cathedral,  a  human 
face,  or  a  burro  the  same  principle  equally  applies. 

Whoever  has  seen  the  exquisite  jewel-like  cabi- 
net pictures  of  Diaz  or  Rico  with  their  rich  textures, 
vivid  color,  dazzling  light  and  telling  composition, 
has  recognized  that  a  broad  handling,  even  on  a 
small  scale,  is  consistent  with  the  expression  of  all 
of   which  paint  is   capable. 

Some  good  work  has  been  done  by  the  analytic 
method  in  which  the  painting  is  built  up,  touch  by 
touch,  beginning  with  the  detail  and  finishing  with 
the  glazed  shadow  but  nothng  short  of  genius  can 
accomplish  it,  and  the  labor  of  it  is  enormous. 

85 


The  building  of  a  picture 


To  be  modern  is  to  paint  synthetically,  com- 
mencing with  masses  as  if  blocking  it  out  in  clay, 
aiming  first  at  the  grand  qualities,  composition,  light, 
color  and  atmosphere.  Detail  is  added  last  of  all. 
if  at  all,  and  used  as  accent  to  the  masses. 


THE    PAINTER 


F  I   HAD  but   six  pennies  in  the  world  I 
would  use  three  of  them  to  buy  me  a  loaf      Beauty  the 
of  bread  and  with  the  other  three  I  would  '°°'*°' 

buy  a  white  hyacinth  to  feed  my  soul" — 
Goethe 


To  every  spiritually  conscious  man  there  comes, 
sooner  or  later,  to  some  often,  the  day  of  fasting 
in  the  desert.  It  is  in  his  bitter  hour  of  discourage- 
ment, under  the  juniper  tree,  that  art  comes  to  him 
as  the  ravens  to  Elijah,  to  feed  his  soul. 

The  hungering  and  thirsting  for  beauty  is  innate 
in  man.  As  the  starved  body  shrinks  and  perishes 
for  want  of  physical  aliment,  so  does  the  starved 
spirit    languish    and    suffer    atrophy. 

«7 


the  soul 


The  building  of  a  picture 


Without  the  sense  of  beauty  in  Hfe  (and  art  is  its 
language)  nian  is  but  a  one-sided  creature.  Like 
a  one-sided  wheel,  he  goes  through  life  with  a  limp. 

Originality  The  gift  most  valued  b}"-  artists  is  originality.     It 

seems  every  year  as  if  the  entire  scale  of  subject 
and  treatment  had  been  exhausted  and  there  re- 
mained nothing  more  but  to  repeat  the  best  things 
already  done.  Once  in  a  while  some  man  will  dis- 
cover a  new  line  of  subjects,  a  new  locality  of 
paintable  quality,  or  a  new  way  of  looking  at  an  old 
thing.  In  each  case  he  becomes  the  man  of  the  hour 
and  the  pattern  for  a  hundred  imitators. 


The  art  impulse 
and 
the  artist's 
equipment 


A  hunger  for  beauty  and  the  faculty  for  recog- 
nizing and  reproducing  it  are  the  impulses  which 
drive  men  to  paint  and  carve,  and  keep  them  at  it 
if  need  be  through  poverty  and  neglect.  Beside 
these  gifts  are  three  essential  requirements  in  the 
making  of  a  painter.  First,  his  mind  must  be  stored 
with  the  necessary  facts  about  nature  and  the  use 
of  materials.  In  the  occupations  of  ordinary  daily 
life  there  is  so  litle  occasion  for  exact  knowledge 
of  objects  that  the  sight  becomes  atrophied  by  dis- 
use. The  painter  must  see  with  the  keenness  of  an 
Indian  on  the  trail.  He  must  be  able  to  recog- 
nize and  compare  masses,  outlines,  modulations  of 
surface,  light  and  tint.  He  must  learn  to  see. 
Lastly,  the  skilful  use  of  implements  and  pigments 
requires  the  same  patient  practice  as  the  technique 


The  painter 


of  the  piano  or  violin.     Whether  the  tool  be  brush 
or  pencil   there  is  no  escape   from  incessant,   long- 
continued  practice  with  the  fingers.     They  must  be 
trained  to  execute  the  will  of  the  mind. 
S 

What  becomes  of  the  thousands  of  young  artists 
who  yearly  graduate  out  of  the  art  schools  into  the 
world  of  productive  activity?  It  looks  as  if  the 
profession  of  painting  must  inevitably  become 
swamped  from  over-production. 


The  annual 


brood 


Not  so,  however.  It  is  the  old  story  of  the  fit 
and  few.  Good  pictures  are  as  saleable  as  ever 
they  were.  Prices  are  as  good  as  ever  they  were. 
But  have  you  noticed  the  marvelous  improvement 
in  wall  paper  in  late  years,  in  ceiling  decoration,  in 
color  and  pattern  of  fabrics  of  all  kinds,  carpets, 
furniture,  stained  glass,  metal  work,  everything^  in 
fact,  to  which  ornament  or  decoration  can  be  ap- 
plied, not  to  speak  of  commercial  lithography,  news- 
paper illustration  and  similar  artistic  industries? 


Countless 

byways 


Of  six  girls  studying  art  side  by  side,  three  will 
marry,  one  will  color  photographs,  another  will  be- 
come a  designer,  and  the  last  a  teacher  or  perhaps 
a  house  decorator. 


Of  six  boys  graduating  together,  three  will  become 
newspaper  illustrators,  one  a  scene  painter,  another 
a    modeler,    still    another    a    lithographer    or    what 

89 


The  building  of  a  picture 


The  fit  and  few 


not.  Perhaps  one  of  the  dozen  will  stick  to  the 
brush  through  every  discouragement  and  in  course 
of  time  will  blossom  out  as  a  successful  painter. 

Following  the  line  of  least  resistance  the  majority 
prefer  the  assured  salary  or  the  easy  berth,  dropping 
out  of  the  line  one  by  one  until  only  the  fit  sur- 
vive and  the  fit  are  always  few. 


Specialism 


The  early  career  of  many  eminent  painters  has 
been  a  series  of  experiments.  Everything  beautiful 
seems  so  well  worth  painting  that  it  requires  both 
will  and  courage  to  follow  out  a  single  line  of  work 
to  its  ultimate  conquest.  It  is  the  specialist  who 
wins,  however,  whether  the  limitation  be  a  matter 
of  accident  or  preference. 

Personal  temperament  will  always  be  a  large 
factor  in  determining  the  choice  or  treatment  of  any 
class  of  subjects. 


Subject  and 
temperament 


Surely  every  phase  of  human  passion  is  a  legi- 
timate subject  for  painting  as  is  every  phase  of 
beauty  in  nature.  Sadness  and  tragedjr  are  quite 
as  acceptable  in  painting  as  in  the  drama. 

Undoubtedly  it  is  good  for  us  that  we  may  find 
hope  and  inspiration  in  the  painted  despair  of  Hagar 
prone  on  the  desert  sands  unwitting  of  the  angel 
who  stands  near  with  deliverance  in  his  hands. 

Yet   there   are   some  men,   notably  of  the   Dutch 

90 


The  painter 

school,  who  find  nature  always  weeping,  who  see 
in  humanity  nothing  worth  recording  but  tears,  the 
wretchedness  of  poverty,  the  bitterness  of  disappoint- 
ment, the  horror  of  death. 

Perhaps  we  need  such  pictures  but  the  painter 
whose  one  note  is  a  note  of  sadness  is  the  same 
man  who  is  forever  complaining  of  his  rheumatism. 

And  there  are  those  whose  entire  artistic  output 
is  limited  to  a  single  narrow  convention.  Such  a 
case  is  like  a  tune  written  with  but  two  notes  for 
melody  and  harmony  or  like  an  endless  repetition  of 
the  chord  5-1,  an  agreeable  and  good  enough  chord 
— occasionally. 

Nay,  I  have  in  mind  one  painter  of  a  single  dis- 
agreeable note  who  reminds  me  of  notliing  finer  than 
a  wheelborrow  in  need  of  axle  grease. 


The  work  of  some  other  man  rests  you.  Whether 
he  paints  a  figure  or  a  landscape,  a  cattle  piece  or  ^°^ 
a  bag  of  potatoes  his  finished  work  has  always  that 
serene  completeness  which  invites  to  content  and 
repose.  "Alabama,  here  let  us  rest,"  it  says.  Such 
a  picture  is  a  well  spring  of  perennial  joy,  good  for 
every  day's  meditation,  saints'  days  and  holidays  in- 
cluded. 

The  modern  reversion  to  old  types  and  archaic 
composition  is  nothing  more  than  a  seeking  after 
sentiment,  that  strange  elusive  charm  of  thrills  and 
shivers  which  dwells  in  the  half  ghostly  creations  of 
the   early  renaissance. 

91 


forever 


The  building  of  a  picture 

Is  it  a  useless  quest?  That  sentiment  is  an  odor 
from  the  mouldy  borderland  between  a  dead  past 
and  an  awakening  future.  Today  we  stand  in  the 
dawn  of  a  new  time,  on  the  threshold  of  a  new 
era  where  art  and  commerce  join  hands.  Art, 
strange  and  beautiful  as  ever,  but  illumined  by  the 
clear  light  of  science  in  which  there  is  no  glamor  of 
mystery. 

The  painter  is  no  longer  a  mystic,  a  recluse,  a 
hermit,  an  alchemist.  He  is  a  plain  business  man, 
well  skilled  in  his  craft,  who  works  for  good  dollars 
and  estimates  his  ability  solely  by  its  commercial 
value.     He  is  keeping  up  with  the  procession. 

And  yet  the  old  spirit  of  art  is  not  dead,  that 
spirit  which,  like  charity  "seeketh  not  her  own, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things,"  nor  are  all 
men  and  women  yet  blind  or  deaf  to  its  presence. 
You  may  find  them  up  and  down  the  quiet  ways  of 
life,  listening  for  the  faint  and  far-off  echoes  which 
fall  on  the  world-wearied  spirit  of  man  like  the 
sound  of  church  bells  after  war. 

So  long  as  human  hearts  yearn  for  consolation, 
so  long  as  human  spirits  feel  the  impulse  of  a 
diviner  life,  so  long  will  they  find  in  art  a  refuge, 
and  seek  it  as  a  fountain  of  life;  so  long  also  will 
be  found  in  the  world  seers  and  poets  and  painters 
whose  chief  joy  in  life  is  to  interpret  the  sweet 
spirit  of  the  Master's  music. 

92 


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